The Liver of a Living Monkey

At the bottom of the sea, a tragedy struck—the sea dragon's daughter fell ill. The dragon was the mightiest in the ocean: his terrifying, long tail coiled in rings, and fire spewed from his mouth. Everyone feared him—sharks, fish, and jellyfish alike. And now, his daughter was sick. He summoned the best healers to his palace. They tried every treatment, gave her all kinds of medicine, but nothing worked. The daughter grew thinner and turned pale. Desperate, the dragon called his subjects and asked:

"What should I do?"
"Sa!" was all the fish replied, tilting their heads to the side. In Japan, when someone says "sa," it means, "I have nothing to say."

Then they sent for the cuttlefish. The cuttlefish swam around the sick girl and said:

"You need the liver of a live monkey."
The dragon grew angry:
"To get the liver of a live monkey, you first need to catch a live monkey! And where would I find one here, at the bottom of the sea?"

"Don't be angry!" said the cuttlefish. She was very old and wise. "Far to the south, there is Monkey Island in the sea. Send someone there, and they will bring you a live monkey."

For such an important task, you can't send just anyone. They began to think about who to send. The dragon said:

"Let's send the shark. She's got sharp teeth."
The cuttlefish waved all eight of her legs:
"No! No! How can we send the shark? What if she swallows the monkey along with its liver?"

"Then let's send the sawfish. She's quick."
"No!" the cuttlefish said again. "What if the sawfish cuts the monkey in half on the way?"

"Then who should we send?"
"Here's what!" said the cuttlefish. She was old and knew everything. "Send the jellyfish. Everyone knows monkeys live on land. So, to catch one, you need to leave the water. And only the jellyfish can do that. The jellyfish boasts that she has four legs and can walk on land without any trouble. Let her fetch the monkey."

"Do you hear, jellyfish?" asked the dragon.
"I hear," said the jellyfish. "But I've never had to catch a monkey before. What does a monkey look like?"

"A monkey has a red face, a red bottom, and a short tail. It loves climbing trees and eating chestnuts."

"Ah," said the jellyfish. She was about to set off but paused and asked again: "How do you catch a monkey?"

"Of course, you can't overpower it. You're small, and it's big. You'll have to trick it."

"Ah," the jellyfish said a second time and started to leave but stopped once more and asked: "How will I carry it if I'm small and it's big? It'll be heavy."

"What can you do? You'll have to endure it."
"Ah," the jellyfish said a third time, rose from the seabed, and swam far, far to the south.

The whole way, the jellyfish thought. She thought about how to trick the monkey, and the journey seemed short. But she swam for three whole days.

Finally, far ahead on the blue water, a black dot appeared.
"That must be Monkey Island!" thought the jellyfish.
She swam faster, reached the shore, shook herself off, and climbed onto land. Immediately, she saw a tree, and on the tree, a red bottom and a short tail.

"There it is, a live monkey!"
"Hello, monkey!" the jellyfish began. "What lovely weather!"
"Hello, I don't know your name. The weather is nice, that's true, but who are you and where did you come from?"

"I'm a jellyfish. I live at the bottom of the sea. I wanted to warm myself in the sun, so I came up for a walk. I accidentally swam here and climbed onto the shore. You see, I have four legs. It makes no difference to me whether I swim in water or walk on land. And what a lovely little island you have here!"

"It's the best island in the world," said the monkey. "Look at how tall our trees are, how many nuts and chestnuts there are. You've probably never been to such a wonderful place before."

"Well, I wouldn't say that!" replied the jellyfish. "I complimented your island because I'm polite. But you should know that I've seen better places. After all, I live at the bottom of the sea!"

"Really?" the monkey was surprised and moved to a lower branch to hear better. "Can you really live there?"

"Of course! Haven't you heard of the sea dragon's palace? I live right near it."

"I've heard of it, but I've never seen it," admitted the monkey. "Only in pictures..."
"Well, the bottom of the sea is much more beautiful than in pictures!" the jellyfish interrupted. "You can't even imagine how wonderful it is!"

"What's so wonderful about it?" asked the monkey. The jellyfish almost said that there was thick, salty water and lots of slime and slugs. After all, that was the tastiest thing for her. But she remembered just in time that she was supposed to trick the monkey and said:

"There are very tall trees, twice as tall as yours."
"Do they have chestnuts?" asked the monkey, moving to the lowest branch.
"Chestnuts? As many as you want! They grow on all our trees. Not just on chestnut trees, but even on pines!"

"Oh!" the monkey exclaimed in surprise. She climbed down from the tree and approached the water. "How I wish I could visit your place."
The jellyfish was delighted but pretended not to care.

"If you really want to visit us, I suppose I could show you the way," she said.
"But I don't know how to walk on water."

- Can't do it? That's a pity. Well, since you really want it, fine, I’ll carry you on my back.

- No, how could I? It’ll be too heavy for you.
- Don’t worry, I’ll endure it.
- Well, if you’re so kind, thank you! Let’s go. The jellyfish plopped into the water, and the curious monkey cautiously stepped onto its wide back, crouched down, and grabbed the jellyfish’s sides with its long arms.

- Just go slow, - she said. - I’m afraid I’ll fall into the water: your back and sides are so slippery!

- It’s fine, hold on tight!
The jellyfish swam very quickly. The deed was done: a live monkey was sitting on its back. Now the jellyfish had nothing else to think about. It even got bored. Besides, it was talkative and didn’t like to stay silent when there was someone to talk to.

- Tell me, please, - the jellyfish suddenly asked, - do you have a liver? The monkey was surprised:

- Why do you need to know that?
- Oh, it’s very important!
- What’s so important about it?
- Just because. I can’t say. The monkey even got scared. She immediately realized that something was being plotted against her.

- No, please, tell me, - she begged the jellyfish. - Otherwise, it might turn out that my liver isn’t what you need.

Now the jellyfish got scared too. It forgot what it had been taught and told the monkey the whole truth:

- Your liver is needed for the sea dragon’s daughter. She’s sick, and they can’t cure her. That’s why I was sent to fetch you. When I bring you back, they’ll take your liver, the dragon’s daughter will eat it, and she’ll be healthy.

The monkey trembled with fear.
She almost jumped off the jellyfish’s back, but there was nothing but sea all around. What could she do? Ask the jellyfish to take her back? But the jellyfish wouldn’t listen.

The monkey thought for a moment and said in the calmest voice:
- Of course, I’ll gladly give my liver. I have plenty of them. Would I really begrudge one or two livers, especially for someone like the sea dragon’s daughter? I’m not that kind of monkey. But why didn’t you tell me this right away? I, as if on purpose, left all my livers at home.

- What do you mean, left them?
- Just left them! This morning I washed them and hung them on a tree to dry. Livers need to be washed once a week, or they get dirty.

“What a disaster!” thought the jellyfish. “Good thing I asked her in time.”
- Hey, you! - it said to the monkey. - Why am I carrying you for nothing? What good are you to me without a liver?

- You’re right, - replied the monkey. - Let’s go back to the island for the liver.
- Are you telling the truth? Are they really hanging there on the tree?
- You’ll see! I have a very good, fatty liver there.
- Then take that one, the fattest one. Okay?
- Absolutely. Just get me to the shore quickly!
The jellyfish turned around and swam back to the island.
As soon as they reached the shore, the monkey jumped off its back onto the ground, leaped to the tree in two bounds, and grabbed the lowest branch with her hands and feet.

- What’s taking so long? - called the jellyfish. - Hurry up! We’ve already lost a lot of time.

But the monkey climbed to the very top of the tree and stuck her tongue out at the jellyfish.
- You rude thing! - the jellyfish got angry. - Come down right now!
- Not a chance! Thanks for the ride. I’m not getting on you again.
- What about the liver? What will I do without it? - the jellyfish cried.
- What you do without it is your problem. But I don’t want to be without mine. Do you think my livers are really hanging on the tree? No, I only have one liver, and it’s inside me, where it belongs.

- So you lied to me? - The jellyfish got angry. - That’s so shameless! I’ll complain to the sea dragon about you.

- I’m not afraid of your sea dragon. And if you really want my liver, climb up the tree yourself. You’ve got four legs, after all.

But the jellyfish didn’t know how to climb trees.
- Listen, - it said then, - what about the sea dragon’s palace? You wanted to see it. And the chestnuts on the pines?

- I don’t need your chestnuts on pines. I only like chestnuts from chestnut trees, - replied the monkey.

And so the foolish jellyfish had to return empty-handed. It swam back over the waves, far, far to the north, home. And again, the journey seemed short: it spent the whole time thinking. Now it was thinking about why the monkey no longer wanted to see the underwater kingdom.

At home, the dragon and all his subjects had been waiting for three days.
- Where’s the monkey? - the fish shouted as soon as they saw the jellyfish.
- In a tree, - the jellyfish replied sadly. - First I tricked her, and then she tricked me. I told her that chestnuts grow on our pines. She liked that. She sat on my back, and I carried her. But then on the way, the monkey remembered she’d left her liver at home, and we had to go back to the island. But in truth, the monkey tricked me: her liver was with her all along. She just didn’t want to come to our underwater kingdom. She thinks chestnuts on pines aren’t sweet.

The sea dragon listened to the jellyfish, then slammed his tail on the seabed and shouted: - Beat her as hard as you can! Beat her until all her bones are knocked out! A fool like her doesn’t need bones.

They beat the jellyfish, beat her, beat her, beat her - and indeed knocked all the bones out of her.
Since then, the jellyfish has been boneless. And it sways on the waves like a soft, wobbly blob.

What does a fool need bones for?

---

Let me know if you need further adjustments!

↑ To the top

The Liver of a Living Monkey

More fairy tales