According to an ancient Hindu myth, an army of monkeys once helped the legendary hero Rama rescue his wife from the demon Ravana. Since Rama was an incarnation of the god Vishnu, monkeys have been honored ever since. They also play significant roles in less-exalted fables; these tales, in which animals think and talk like people to make a moral point, were part of the education of every young Indian boy of noble birth.
One such story, illustrating the perils of listening to spiteful talk, tells of a monkey and a crocodile who were great friends. The crocodile's wife, however, became jealous and demanded the monkey's heart, and so the crocodile tricked the monkey into climbing on his back and then tried to drown him. But the monkey convinced the crocodile that he had a better heart stored in a tree in the forest. The crocodile carried the monkey back to shore, only to discover that he had been twice deceived, and had lost his best friend.
A PENSIVE MONKEY is one member of a group of lifesized animal figures carved into a huge boulder at a sacred place of worship on India's southeastern coast.
A CAPTIVE MONKEY on a tether may have been a nobleman's pet, or one of many animals that India's rajas kept in menageries.
MONKEYS AT PLAY-/ishing, eating, quarreling and climbing trees
Are shown in this delightful 16th Century painting, which was
Used to illustrate a book of fables, "The Lights of Canopus." 45
A WHITE-FACED cow, garianded with bells, climbs out of the river and prepares to graze on a flowered bank. The picture is a detail from a painting illustrating the boyhood of Krishna.
World History
