The Monkey and the Dolphin

The Monkey and the Dolphin

A SAILOR, bound on a long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse him

while on shipboard. As he sailed off the coast of Greece, a violent

tempest arose in which the ship was wrecked and he, his Monkey, and all

the crew were obliged to swim for their lives. A Dolphin saw the Monkey

contending with the waves, and supposing him to be a man (whom he is

always said to befriend), came and placed himself under him, to convey

him on his back in safety to the shore. When the Dolphin arrived with

his burden in sight of land not far from Athens, he asked the Monkey if

he were an Athenian. The latter replied that he was, and that he was

descended from one of the most noble families in that city. The Dolphin

then inquired if he knew the Piræus (the famous harbor of Athens).

Supposing that a man was meant, the Monkey answered that he knew him

very well and that he was an intimate friend. The Dolphin, indignant at

these falsehoods, dipped the Monkey under the water and drowned him.