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The Tale of the Tortoise and the Monkey.
(A Specimen of Dr. Rizal's English. This story was published in a London magazine in 1889.)
The tortoise and the monkey found once a banana tree
floating admidst the waves of a river. It was a very fine tree, with large green leaves,
and with roots just as if it had been pulled off by a storm. They took it ashore.
"Let us devide it," said the tortoise, "and plant each its portion." They cut it in the middle, and the monkey, as the stronger, took for himself the upper part of the tree, thinking that it would grow quicker for it had leaves. The tortoise, as the weaker, had the lower part, that looked ugly, although it had roots. After some days, they met.
"Hello, Mr. Monkey," said the tortoise, "how are you getting on with your banana tree?"
"Alas," said the monkey, "it has been dead a long time!
And yours, Miss Tortoise?"
"Very nice indeed, with leaves and fruits. I cannot climb up to gather them."
"Never mind," said the malicious monkey, "I will climb up and pick them for you."
"Do, Mr. Monkey," replied the tortoise gratefully. And so
they walked toward the tortoise's house.
As soon as the monkey saw the bright yellow
fruits hanging between the large green leaves, he climbed up and began plundering, munching
and gobbling, as quick as he could.
"But give me ome, stoo," said the tortoise, seeing that
the monkey did not take the slightest notice of her.
"Not even a bit of the skin, if it is eatable,"
rejoined the monkey, both his cheeks crammed with bananas.
The tortoise meditated revenge. She went to the river, picked
up some pointed shells, planted
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Document
created: June 12, 1998
updated: June 12, 1998
APSIS Editor Johann Stockinger
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