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Long ago, on the banks of a wide river in ancient India, there grew a tall 1 jambu tree. Its branches hung heavy with sweet, juicy fruit. High in those branches lived a happy Monkey. Every day he ate the sweet jambu fruits and chattered to himself in the sun.
One sunny morning, a big Crocodile swam slowly up the river. He stopped to rest under the jambu tree. The friendly Monkey looked down and tossed a sweet fruit to him. "Try this!" called the Monkey. "It is the sweetest fruit in the forest."
The Crocodile took a bite. His eyes grew wide. "This is the BEST fruit I have ever tasted!" he said. From that day on, the Crocodile came every morning. The Monkey threw down jambu fruits, and they became friends. They talked and laughed for hours.
Each day the Crocodile took some extra fruit home to his wife. She ate them and licked her teeth. "These fruits are so sweet," she thought. And slowly, a wicked idea grew in her mind.
"Husband," said the Crocodile's wife one night, "if this Monkey eats sweet jambu fruits every day, then his HEART must be the SWEETEST thing in the world. I want to taste it! Bring me the Monkey's heart!"
The Crocodile was very sad. "But the Monkey is my friend!" he said. His wife frowned. "If you do not bring me his heart, I will never speak to you again." The Crocodile was afraid of his wife. So he agreed.
The next morning the Crocodile swam to the jambu tree. "Friend Monkey!" he called. "My wife has cooked a special feast and wants to meet you. Climb on my back, and I will carry you to our home across the river."
The Monkey was excited. He had never been across the river. He jumped down and climbed onto the Crocodile's wide back.
The Crocodile swam out into the wide, deep river. The water sparkled. The wind blew. Halfway across, the Crocodile slowed down. He took a deep breath. Then he told the truth. "Friend Monkey," he said softly, "I am sorry. My wife wants your HEART. I must take you to her."
The Monkey's stomach dropped. He was in the MIDDLE of a deep river on the back of a CROCODILE. He could not jump. He could not swim away. He could not fight — the Crocodile was ten times his size. But the Monkey did not panic. He took a slow breath. He STAYED CALM. And he started THINKING QUICKLY.
"Oh, friend Crocodile!" said the Monkey, smiling brightly. "Why didn't you SAY SO earlier? Of course I will give your wife my heart — but you should know, monkeys do NOT keep our hearts inside our bodies! It is a very old secret. We always leave our hearts back on our jambu tree, hanging in the branches. I left mine there this morning. Turn around and take me back, and I will get it for you!"
The 2 foolish Crocodile believed every word. "Oh no!" he said. "We must go back at once!" He turned around and swam fast to the jambu tree. The moment the Crocodile touched the riverbank, the Monkey LEAPED off his back, scrambled up the tree, and climbed high into the safe branches.
From up in the branches the Monkey laughed. "You silly Crocodile! Hearts do NOT live in trees! Every monkey carries his heart INSIDE, just like you. I tricked you to save my own life. We are not friends anymore. Now swim home, and tell your wife she will get no heart today!"
The Crocodile felt very foolish. Slowly, sadly, he swam back across the river — empty-pawed, and a little wiser.
Pick an answer to see if it's right. Fred will explain.
Now look at the WORDS, the CHARACTERS, and the EVIDENCE in the text.
Now look at HOW the author tells the story and the BIG lesson it teaches.
When a character SPEAKS in a story, we add a small group of words to tell us WHO is speaking — that's called a dialogue tag. The most common dialogue tag is said. But great writers use many others: asked, shouted, whispered, replied, called, cried, answered, laughed.
✏️ PRACTICE — Spot the dialogue tag
📝 USE — Now you try
Fred will give you ⭐ stars (out of 3) and tell you how to make your answer even better.
Three tiers of words from the story, then a 4-round quiz to test what you know.
| Word | What it means (G2-friendly) | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| trickster | a character who uses cleverness (not strength) to win | The Monkey is a trickster who outsmarts the bigger crocodile. |
| greedy | wanting more and more — never feeling like you have enough | The Crocodile's wife was greedy and wanted the Monkey's heart. |
| predator | an animal that hunts and eats other animals | A crocodile is a powerful predator in the rivers of India. |
| deceive | to make someone believe something that is not true | The Monkey deceived the Crocodile with the heart-in-tree story. |
| foolish | silly in a way that can lead to trouble; not thinking carefully | It was foolish of the Crocodile to believe hearts live in trees. |
| cunning | clever in a sneaky way; good at tricking others | The Monkey's cunning plan saved his life. |
| suspicion | a feeling that something is wrong, even if you can't prove it | The Monkey felt suspicion when the Crocodile slowed down. |
| escape | to get away from danger | The Monkey's escape was quick — he leaped up the tree. |
| Word | Quick definition |
|---|---|
| India | a large country in Asia with a very old history |
| monkey | a small, quick animal with a long tail that lives in trees |
| crocodile | a long, scaly reptile with sharp teeth that lives in rivers |
| river | a wide, flowing stream of water |
| tree | a tall plant with a trunk and branches |
| jambu | a sweet purple-pink fruit that grows in India |
| fruit | the sweet, soft part of a plant that you can eat |
| friend | someone you like and trust |
| wife | a woman who is married to a husband |
| heart | the part inside your body that pumps blood |
| back | the part of an animal's body opposite its belly |
| swam | moved through water using your arms and legs (past tense of swim) |
| climbed | went up using hands and feet (past tense of climb) |
| calm | not afraid; peaceful inside |
| laughed | made a happy sound that comes when something is funny |
| Word | Quick definition |
|---|---|
| three | the number after 2 and before 4 |
| of | belonging to or connected with |
| the | a small word that points to a specific thing |
| and | a word that joins two things together |
| very | used to make a word stronger ("very big") |
| two | the number after 1 and before 3 |
| then | after that; next |
| did | the past form of "do" — already done |
Play all four rounds. Each round tests the words in a new way!
Monkeys of India. India is home to many kinds of monkeys. The most common are the rhesus macaque (a small brown monkey often seen in cities and temples) and the gray langur (a slim, long-tailed monkey with a black face). Bonnet macaques live in the south of India. All of these monkeys love to climb, jump, and live high up in the trees, where they are safe from predators on the ground.
Life in a Troop. Monkeys do not live alone. They live in big family groups called troops. A troop can have anywhere from 5 monkeys to more than 50! The older monkeys teach the babies how to find food, how to climb safely, and how to spot danger. Living together makes them safer.
What Real Monkeys Eat. Real monkeys eat lots of fruit — just like the Monkey in the story! They also eat leaves, flowers, seeds, insects, and sometimes small eggs. Monkeys have hands and feet that can grip branches and fruit, and they can even use simple tools like sticks to dig out insects.
Smart Problem-Solvers. Scientists who study monkeys say they are very smart. Monkeys can 3 solve puzzles, remember which trees have fruit at which times of year, and figure out how to open boxes to get food. They also have very different personalities — some monkeys are bold, some are shy. The clever Monkey in the Panchatantra story is not so far from real life!
Pick an answer to see if it's right. Fred will explain.
Crocodiles of India. India is home to several kinds of crocodiles. The mugger crocodile lives in rivers, lakes, and marshes. The gharial is a long, slim crocodile with a narrow snout — it lives in fast rivers and eats mostly fish. Crocodiles have been on Earth for more than 200 MILLION years — longer than almost any other animal. They are very ancient creatures.
How Crocodiles Hunt. Crocodiles are powerful predators. They float quietly in the water with only their eyes and nostrils showing, so other animals don't see them. When an animal comes close to drink, the crocodile attacks with a sudden burst of speed and powerful jaws. Crocodile teeth are sharp, but they can't chew — they swallow chunks whole.
Big Body, Small Brain. A real crocodile can be huge — up to 15 feet long. But its brain is very small compared to its body. Crocodiles act on instinct: they eat, they hunt, they rest. They are not great problem-solvers — they cannot plan ahead the way a smart monkey can. In real life, a clever animal CAN sometimes get away from a crocodile by using surprise or quick thinking.
Are Crocodiles in Trouble? The gharial is in danger — there are fewer than 1,000 left in the wild. The mugger crocodile is doing a little better. India has set up 4 reserves and breeding programs to help these ancient animals survive. Real crocodiles are NOT evil — they are simply hungry hunters. They are an important part of the river world.
Tricksters Are Everywhere. Almost every culture in the world has stories about a SMALL, clever animal who tricks a BIGGER one. These characters are called tricksters. They use their MINDS instead of muscles. The Monkey in the Panchatantra is one — but there are dozens more across the world.
Anansi the Spider (West Africa). In West African tales (from countries like Ghana), there is a tiny SPIDER named Anansi. Anansi is no bigger than your thumb, but he tricks lions, tigers, and even the Sky God himself with his clever words. The Anansi stories are over 1,000 years old. When enslaved Africans were brought to America, they carried Anansi with them — and he became Brer Rabbit.
Brer Rabbit (American South) and the Coyote (Native America). Brer Rabbit is a small rabbit who outwits Brer Fox and Brer Bear in tales told by African Americans in the southern United States. The Coyote appears in many Native American story traditions — sometimes wise, sometimes foolish, always clever. In one famous tale, Coyote tricks bigger animals to bring fire to people.
The Fox (Korea, Japan, Europe). In Korea, the trickster is often a nine-tailed fox. In Japan, the trickster is a kitsune (another fox). In European fables — Aesop, La Fontaine — the fox uses kind words to trick a Crow into dropping its cheese. All over the world, the same idea repeats: a small animal beats a big one with QUICK THINKING. The Monkey's heart-in-tree trick belongs to this same family of stories.
Pick ONE writing prompt. Fred will give you stars and feedback.
Videos that build context for the fiction story OR teach more about the non-fiction topics (real monkeys, real crocodiles, and trickster tales).
If the primary video isn't a good fit, here are vetted alternates:
These are for talking, not writing. Use them as a class share, a turn-and-talk with a partner, or a family chat at home.