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The Vile Monkey and the Patient Buffalo
—adapted from a Jataka tale of India
A powerful old buffalo
Once ranged the Indian countryside.
Over the rolling hills, in cool
Dark caves and tangled woods, he plied.
One day, he found a tree where he could rest
And for a moment cease his browsing quest.
As he relaxed beneath the shade,
Upon his back a monkey plopped
And, squatting, dropped a nasty mess,
Then grabbed a horn as off he hopped
To spin and somersault along the ground,
Before he bared his fangs, yakked, grinned, and clowned.
The buffalo, yet unperturbed,
To these rude antics paid no heed
And ever was his temper mild,
Despite the fact, when he had need
To stop beneath the tree, the monkey’s act
Remained the same as when he first attacked.
One day, the Spirit of the Tree
Appeared along its trunk to say,
“Why, Buffalo, do you abide
That hateful ape’s disgusting way?
Why not with horns impale him? Or you could
With hooves his nasty doings end for good.
“Ah, Spirit of the Tree,” replied
The buffalo, “instead of me,
Should here another bull repose,
The ape would still act spitefully,
Thinking this bull like rudeness would endure
And leave the culprit in offense secure.
“Yet, if that buffalo is fierce,
The baleful monkey will obtain
His just reward, and when he is
Destroyed, on me adheres no stain.
I will be free from his effronteries,
And for his death, my conscience rest at ease.”
A few days passed. The old bull found
A place where fresher grass he cropped.
Another bull then chanced to halt
Beneath the tree. The monkey dropped
Down as before, behaving just the same
Yet setting this new buffalo aflame.
With sudden rage, he shook himself
To toss the rude pest off his back.
Then snorting once, with hooves and horns,
He madly launched his wild attack.
The monkey’s viscera the sharp horns slashed
Before the heavy hooves his body smashed.
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The above is adapted from “Mahisa-Jataka,” in The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, vol. 2, ed. E. B. Cowell, trans. W. H. D. Rouse (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1895), 262-263.
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Terry L. Norton is a retired professor of literacy at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He is the author of Cherokee Myths and Legends (2014), Trickster Tales of Southeastern Native Americans (2023), and Monkey Tales Around the World: A Folklore Anthology (2024), all published by McFarland.
Karma in an interesting story nutshell!
Well done, Dr. Norton.
I enjoyed your keen rhyme schemes.
It’s good to see your work back on the website!
Terry Norton’s seemingly effortless mastery of rhyme, meter, and image brings new life to ancient roots. The vile monkey ‘s end is a “do-unto-others” parable. Beautiful work.
Terry, it’s lovely to see you back with an engaging poetic tale of a vile monkey’s antics. Your poem takes me back to my schooldays with morning assembly stories of Br’er Rabbit and Rikki Tikki Tavi – bliss!
Thank you so much, Susan. I had been preoccupied the last several years in getting completed two books on folktales.
I hope to be back more often.
Enjoyed reading this, Dr. Norton!
This is wonderfully entertaining! So well spun it mesmerised me.
The story makes fine entertainment, Terry, showing how the careless, villainous monkey gets his deserts at last. That final stanza confirms that emphatic, violent action is only natural to the buffalo. I am surprised, however, at the two “morals” in this animal fable. The less obvious has to do with the first buffalo’s refraining from violence in order to keep his conscience clear. That’s neither necessary nor natural, yet commendable when applied in the human realm. The other feature of special interest is the tree spirit acting as nature’s questioner, and apparently remaining thoroughly in accord with the natural realm. The story thus emphasizes the non-action of the first buffalo as highly unusual, which could thus make it the point of the story for a thoughtful human hearer. You’ve put it into English verse remarkably well.
Thank you, Terry, for another prize of a poem. May we all take a lesson from the first buffalo.