The Monkey's Fiddle

I knew music was magical.

Hello, reader. This week's story comes to us from South Africa. The Monkey's Fiddle is a story about how hard work gets you great things, but stealing doesn't. Click the link above to read the story and continue below to analyze it with me.

The main character, Monkey, is just an animal who wants work. He finds that work with his uncle, Mr. Outang. What is the deal with his uncle? Are magical items just easy to find where he lives? Does Mr. Outang want to give his nephew the best of what he has? Or maybe Mr. Outang is a wizard of some sort. My favorite interpretation is that the bow, arrow, and fiddle were all unmagical items until Mr. Outang declared their magic to Monkey. Then they all became magical just because Mr. Outang said so. However it happened, Monkey finds himself the owner of these great treasures.

Monkey is generous with his magical gifts. With no prompting, he shoots the deer that Wolf had been stalking all morning. That was really nice of Monkey. So, of course, in repayment, Wolf steals the bow and arrow. Some people are just entitled, I guess. Then there's the whole legal trouble, which is made worse because it seems like everyone is trying to steal the bow and arrow from Monkey. It's a really good thing Monkey didn't tell anyone about his fiddle, and not only because that's how he gets out of this. Those animals would have stolen that from him too.

Monkey really tries to do everything by the book, but people are lying so they can keep his bow and arrow. Which also means they're going to kill Monkey. For having his bow and arrow stolen. Goodness. He really has no choice besides playing a tune on his magical fiddle. It's a good thing that Monkey was a great musician because the way I see it, everyone would have to dance to the fiddle music whether it was good or not. If I had to dance to exhaustion, I'd rather it be to "Cockcrow" than a screechy, out of tune cacophony.

Fortunately for everyone, Wolf admits he stole the bow and arrow, and Lion agrees to throw the case out. Monkey stops playing and everyone runs far away from him. Now that I think about it, that magic fiddle would be really inconvenient for a musician. If you just wanted to play some music for your friends, or at a concert, everyone would have to dance. In the wrong circumstances, it's a cursed fiddle. Hopefully, Monkey was able to get a second instrument so he could play without forcing everyone to dance the whole time.

The moral of this story is that if you steal a magic item from a stranger, they may have another magic item to use against you. Alternatively, if someone steals from you, use your magical musical instrument to get a confession from them.

Have a different moral? Annoyed that Wolf wasn't put to death for stealing? Have a different story you want me to talk about? Comment below! And, if you enjoy this blog, don't forget to subscribe, so you get an email when there's a new post.