The Monkey and the Crocodile -Summary and Analysis

About the poet

Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, biographer, and memoirist. He won the Sahitya Academy Award for his excellence in literature, and several other awards including Padma Shri, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, etc.

About the poem

● The poem ‘The Monkey and the Crocodile’ is taken from ‘Beastly Tales from Here and There’ (1912), and it is written in the form of a ballad by Vikram Seth.

● The poem depicts the theme of betrayal in friendship, greed, and selfishness in human relations.

● The entire poem is written in such a way that it makes couplets. It follows the rhyme scheme of aabb.

● The poem ‘The Monkey and the Crocodile’ enriches with a message that humans should not believe in those who are not able to be trusted and are unusual.

● The entire poem revolves around three characters- Mr. Kuroop, Mrs. Crocodile, and the Monkey.

Word-Meaning:

♦isle-island, ♦grin-a broad smile, ♦stubby-short and fat, ♦tepid-unenthusiastic, ♦prey-an animal that is hunted, ♦substantial-of considerable importance,♦ glide-move smoothly without noise, ♦polliwog-tadpole, ♦lunge-make sudden powerful movement,♦ Grab-Catch somebody, ♦snap-break, ♦rip-tear,♦ carcass-dead body of prey, ♦treat-entertainment of giving free food, ♦pine-becoming thin and weak because of unhappiness,♦ swoon-loss of consciousness, ♦showered-covered us, ♦slakes-satisfies, ♦partly-not completely, ♦Gorged-over-ate, ♦tender-showing kindness, ♦Sugar-cane-tall tropical plant, ♦pulp-soft inner part of fruit, ♦pore-small hole in skin,♦ Concentrating-gathering, ♦fetch-bring, ♦faint-swoon, ♦whoop-shout loudly, ♦flinging -throwing something with great force, ♦treasure-precious objects, ♦Nectar-sweet liquid, ♦paw-the foot, ♦gnaw-bite at ,♦ gratitude-feeling of being grateful,♦ limb-one of the main branches of the tree, ♦crown-top part of the head, ♦clambered-climb up,♦ warmth-affection, ♦Toss-throw,♦ gruff-rough and low in pitch, ♦voracious-devouring food in a great quantity, ♦veins-one of the tubes which can carry blood from all parts of your body to your heart,♦ Gutted-killed brutally, ♦sinking-started thinking deeply with emotion, ♦slaughter-killing animal, ♦felicity-happiness, ♦Dumb-not able to speak, ♦prised-forced to separate, ♦rushed-moved quickly,♦ hollow-with a hole or empty space inside, ♦spare-not needed now but kept for future, ♦cufflinks-a small decorative object used to fasten shirt cuffs,♦ sup-have a meal, ♦mingled-mixed, ♦upbraid-scold, ♦aid-help, jaw-the mouth, ♦concern-worry, ♦regard-care for something, ♦double -dunce-twice slow in learning, ♦yelled-shout loudly, ♦scaly-covered with scales, ♦breast-chest, ♦parting-act of leaving somebody, ♦squishy-soft and moist, ♦rotten-old and not fresh, ♦reptile-an animal that has cold blood and scaly skins, ♦regretful-showing you feel sorry about something

Detail discussion about characters:

i) Kuroop

Vikram Seth presents Kuroop as a self-centred and greedy fellow who makes his wife happy by all means and enjoys her company while eating his prey. He loves only his wife and fulfils all of her desires. He is so selfish that he easily forgets all the mangoes the monkey has given to him and his kindness towards him and his wife. He betrays the monkey only to give an anniversary treat to his wife, Mrs. Crocodile. He does not have control over his mind, or the courage to differentiate between right and wrong, so he is easily manipulated by others. He cannot make his wife understand how wicked she is when she thinks of eating the monkey’s heart, but his wife convinces him to betray the monkey. On the other hand, the monkey befools him by saying that his chest does not contain his heart, and Kuroop takes him to the tree where he lives. Kuroop does not have the intellect and presence of mind to understand the circumstances, and he becomes a victim of manipulation by his wife and the monkey. He has also feelings of gratitude and guilt which are reflected in the poem with time. Due to his gratitude, he tries to make his wife understand that they cannot eat the monkey’s heart as he is his friend. Again, his guilt is shown when he looks at the monkey with a regretful smile at the end of the poem.

ii)Mrs. Crocodile

Mrs. Crocodile is selfish and self-centred. She can do anything to fulfil her wish. She can read others’ minds and manipulate them easily. Thus, she succeeds in persuading Kuroop to betray his friend, the monkey. She does not have gratitude to others rather she considers kindness as foolishness. Hence, she does not listen to Kuroop who fulfils her every wish, and she thinks of eating the monkey’s heart remembering his kindness and mangoes of summer treat. She possesses an illogical mind and wicked thoughts that she guesses that the monkey’s heart is sweeter than sugarcane as the mango pulps gather in his heart. She is narrow-minded and opportunistic. She is ready to take advantage of the monkey’s faith in Kuroop by snatching life from the monkey to fulfil her wish.

iii) The Monkey

The monkey has compassion and kindness for Kuroop and his wife, so he throws sweet ripe mangoes at Kuroop to give them a summer treat. He is loyal to his friend and true to his friendship by showing his love through mangoes. He believes his friend so much that he does not hesitate to sit on the back of Kuroop. He has enough intellect and presence of mind to save himself when he is about to die. He acts according to the situation so, he can make a plan to defeat Kuroop in fulfilling his goals. He is so brave that he is not afraid of death when Kuroop allows him to choose death by drowning or being gutted by him and his wife. He does not tolerate dishonesty. He punishes Kuroop by throwing squishy, rotten, dead mangoes on the head of Kuroop.

Summary

The poem ‘The Monkey and the Crocodile’ narrates a story that depicts friendship and betrayal between the Monkey and the Crocodile. In the poem, the Crocodile lived with his wife on the greenest island. He loved his wife and shared with her the carcass of the prey he caught. He used to give her dolphins, turtles, fatter fish, and mangoes.

Kuroop had a very good bonding of friendship with the Monkey who provided sweet ripe mangoes to him year after year. He knew Mrs. Crocodile loved mangoes so he gave mangoes to him for his wife also. It was the time when Mr. Crocodile and Mrs. Crocodile enjoyed the summer treat the Monkey gave.

Once Mrs. Crocodile desired to eat the monkey’s heart on the occasion of her anniversary. At first, Mr. Crocodile tried to make her understand that he could not betray the Monkey as he was his friend who believed him and fed them mangoes. Mrs. Crocodile advised her husband how it could be easy to betray the monkey as he believed Kuroop. Eventually, Mrs. Crocodile threatened Kuroop that if she could not eat the monkey’s heart, she would die out of bitterness. Mr. Crocodile became afraid of the Crocodile’s threat and went to invite the Monkey to dine with them on the occasion of their anniversary. The Monkey was extremely glad to be invited and sat on the back of Kuroop. They reached the middle of the way when the Crocodile ordered the Monkey to throw all the mangoes in the water and declared that the Monkey himself was a gift for Mrs. Crocodile. He asked the monkey if mango nectar filled his heart. He worried that his wife would get indigestion after eating the Monkey’s heart. Kuroop offered the Monkey death by drowning or being gutted by Mr. Crocodile and his wife. Then the Monkey said he could accept any kind of death for the sake of Mrs. Crocodile, but worried about Mrs. Crocodile’s reaction while separating his ribs, as his chest did not contain the heart. He had put his heart in the hollow of the tree as Kuroop was in a hurry while fetching the Monkey. He suggested an idea to Kuroop to fetch his heart, and Kuroop agreed with him. So Kuroop took him to the place where the Monkey lived.

After reaching his home the Monkey refused to come back and cursed him. He threw squishy, rotten, and dead mangoes upon the Monkey’s head. Kuroop looked at the Monkey with a regretful smile.