Work hard, Play hard!!!

The second action project for our humanities course, stories, was a fable. We were looking into Aesop and the panchatantran fables, and were inspired to create fables of our own. Fab;es are stories that contain an overarching moral. These stories usually have animals as the main characters because children are the targeted audience. They are to lay a foundation for solid morals for those kids to live by. My fable is about a hardworking bear and a very playful monkey. In the fable the bear tries to get monkey to understand that he can be playful and get work done, but the work comes first. They are to be working to gather food and find a place to stay to keep warm and nourished during the winter. I threw in one symbol for playfulness; monkey's banana maraca. Giving the maraca to bear symbolizes him giving up his playfulness in exchange for the comfort of a home and food. The condition for the exchange however was that monkey had to be more productive during the summer. Well enough of my little summary, here's my fable. I hope you enjoy.

JH, Bear and monkey, 2019

The monkey and the bear

It was the middle of summer when the fruits were growing and water was plentiful. Every animal was out in the forest and gathering food communally for the winter. The monkey was up in the trees swinging and being playful and Distracting everyone else from their work. The sloth bear tried to help the monkey grow up a little bit.

“Monkey, I think you should gather food like the rest of us,'' the bear said.

Monkey replied, “Why would I do that when I could have much more fun swinging from trees and sleeping. You know if you work all the time you’re gonna grow old and you’re gonna wonder why you never had any fun and relaxed.”

Bear was shocked that monkey said that. He immediately was overcome with a sense of pity and defeat. He knew that he couldn't change the monkey's mind no matter how much he tried. Monkey would only realize his misunderstanding once winter came, and he had no food or a place to stay. “Ok monkey, I guess you’re right,'' said bear. Bear sighed and shook his head in disappointment as he walked away and continued to work. He gathered fruits and other foods that could be found after the humans dropped them.

Monkey continued to play and bother everyone from working, in hopes of finding a playmate. By this time it was nearing the end of summer, and everyone was about done gathering food and finding places to sleep during the winter. Bear had found a nice cave with a hot spring inside so that he could stay warm. That's not the only thing bear had done during the summer. He remembered how lazy monkey was about working to live, and he knew that monkey didn't find anything to eat or a place to stay. “Ugh, guess I’ll go help that idiot out.”

Bear set out to talk to the other animals to find a place for monkey to stay near food. After days of looking, he found the right spot. “I guess this will do,” bear said with a satisfied look on his face.

Monkey continued to slack off and goof around until the first day of winter came. He quickly noticed that nobody was around, and it was freezing out. He went to the cave where bear was staying to ask for help. “I need a place to stay, and food to eat, and entertainment and all of this stuff, could you help me?”

Bear replied coldly, “no. I told you that this day would come and you didn't listen and now you’re suffering and have come to me for help like I said.” Bear continued, “Give me your banana maraca.”

“Why do you want it.” said monkey

“Because that maraca is the source of you nonstop playful behavior. If you are willing to give me that then I will know for sure that you have learned your lesson and now know that if you work hard then you could relax and have fun. I’ll finally be relieved to say that you get that principle. So what'll it be monkey?”

Monkey sighed in a tone of defeat and understanding. He knew what he had to do. “Ok I’ll give you the maraca but i'm going to have to stay with you.”

He gave up the maraca and bear took monkey to the spot that he found for him. Monkey was astounded and at a loss for words. He was appalled that bear would do something so thoughtful even after he didn't listen to him.

To this day monkey and bear go to work together during the summer; counting and gathering food, while during the winters, they sleep, party and have fun.