Mumbo

Mumbo was a monkey; a thin, puny monkey, only the size of a peewee. He lived in a tree; not just any tree, mind you, but a big baobab tree as big as 3 lion’s dens. Like I said Mumbo was a puny little monkey only the size of a peewee, so it was no wonder his siblings thought that he was there to bully. Jumbo, his brother had thought Mumbo was the weakest monkey on the African plains, and had spanked him till his bum had been red. Now in the first place spanking somebody isn’t going to make them any bigger. In second place, believe it or not, that’s monkey bullying. But Jumbo was a stubborn monkey; monkeys only as big as a peewee should be spanked for being so small.

Although Mumbo was so small, he was very smart. In fact, Mumbo’s dad, Tumbo (then the chief of the tribe), had thought Mumbo was the cleverest monkey in the tribe. Because Mumbo’s dad had thought him to be so clever, he had given him the job of a tabtub, or a scribe. In the summer time, when the sun scorched the sands and the days were long, Mumbo would make sure every monkey got their fair share of water from the water hole. And every night he would make sure that no monkeys were missing.

But one-night Mumbo realized that one of the younglings was missing and so was its mother. That afternoon he had been washing at the water hole and had noticed that every

monkey, except for the mother and the youngling were there. As he searched his memory he alighted on the fact that that morning a messenger had reported that there was a lion roaming about. Just then a Roar had been heard and the whole tribe had rushed up to their old home, the baobab.

Having thought through this several times, he resolved to go tell Tumbo (then the chief of the tribe).

“That’s terrible”, exclaimed Tumbo, after Mumbo had finished telling him the facts.

So the very next day Tumbo, then the chief of the tribe, decided to send his roughest, toughest monkeys to go find the mother and her youngling. So off went the monkeys at the very crack of dawn. As the fireflies came out and the sun sank beneath the horizon, the rough, tough monkeys came back without a clue to were the mother and her youngling had gone.

Mumbo was devastated. Where could the mother and her youngling be, he wondered. It was possible the lion could have eaten them. Mumbo gulped. When Mumbo was only a little youngling his mother had told him fearful stories about Leni the lion. Leni the lion was the most dangerous creature on the African plains, besides the Mosquito. In fact, Leni had a reputation for eating monkeys, and had readily consumed the chief before Tumbo (then the chief of the tribe).That chief had been very mean. He had been foolish and had showered insults on the lion when on the ground. It was no wonder the chief had been eaten. But that was besides the point.

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Mumbo had found it. Finally a clue. Tumbo (then the chief of the tribe) would be proud. Mumbo had found foot prints! They looked about monkey size, he thought. So Mumbo started to follow the foot prints. As he was rounding a corner he came face to face with a lion. The lion was as startled as Mumbo was, and for a second the two just stood there nose to nose. Then Mumbo came back to his senses and scrambled up the nearest tree. When he reached the top his said to himself;

“Why, that lion is slower than I expected. I thought I was a goner.”

As Mumbo shifted his position he heard a voice behind him.

“I thought I was a goner too, Mumbo”, said the voice.

It was the mother and her youngling! Mumbo could not believe it. So Mumbo waited till the next morning, when the lion was asleep, and then tiptoed back to the Baobab with the mother and the youngling. When they arrived at the tree they were warmly greeted. Mumbo was never teased by his brother Jumbo again.

THE END