They Stole Our Home
View(s):By Manoshi de Silva
Tin-Tin the squirrel was having a nice nap when the tree he was sleeping on started to suddenly sway this way and that way. He opened his eyes and saw all the trees around him shaking, with their leaves rustling and a huge commotion was taking place. “What’s going on?” thought Tin-Tin hugging the branch hard and trying not to fall off. “Was there a hurricane or something?”
Then Tin-Tin saw some animals jumping from one branch to another. They were big and had long tails.
“Who are you?” he asked one fellow
who came near. “We are monkeys!”
he said and jumped on to the other tree skilfully, asking, “Haven’t you seen any of us before?” “No!” said Tin-Tin still in surprise. “There haven’t been any monkeys in our neighbourhood before”.
The monkeys plucked fruits from the trees around. Some branches broke due to their weight. Leaves fell all over the ground. They made quite a mess and they were very noisy too.
“What brings you here?” Tin-Tin asked from another monkey who sat on the same branch biting a mango. But before he could even answer, the people in the house below started clapping and making sounds, trying to chase off the monkeys. The monkeys jumped from branch to branch and went away in a hurry. Some jumped onto the roofs and ran away making a huge racket.
Tin-Tin, still surprised with all the excitement, wondered why people chased them away. But when he looked down he understood why. The monkeys had plucked most of the fruits; even the raw ones and the ground was covered with leaves and broken branches. They had made a big mess. Tin-Tin felt happy they left. They were also loud and noisy. They disturbed the peace and left much cleaning to do.
But the monkeys made it a habit to come around every day around the same time. They were chased off everyday whenever they were spotted. But that did not stop them from visiting the neighbourhood gardens. Tin-Tin too was annoyed by the monkeys. They barely left any fruits on the trees. “I’m glad they are being chased off by the humans!” thought Tin-Tin, “and I hope they’ll stop coming!”
An important question came to
Tin-Tin’s mind. “Why have they started coming here? And where were they before?” Tin-Tin thought to ask this from them when he got a chance. But the monkeys were always in such a great hurry jumping from branch to branch. It was very difficult to get a hold of them because they were very active and always on the move.
One day there was a little monkey sitting on a nearby branch. “Where are you from?” Tin-Tin asked the monkey. “We were in a nice place with lots of trees and food!” replied the little monkey, munching a leaf. There were hardly any fruits left on the trees now, with the monkeys coming on a daily basis. “So why don’t you stay there? Why do you visit home-gardens? Can’t you see how unwelcome you are by the humans?” “We can’t!” answered the little monkey looking sad, “they stole our jungle which was our home!” And with that he jumped on to another branch and went away.
“How can anyone take away a whole jungle? The little monkey must be mistaken,” thought Tin-Tin. “The jungle is where they should stay. These home-gardens can’t support so many hungry monkeys!” Most of the other animals and birds were unhappy about the monkeys’ regular visits. There was very little food left for everyone else now. Even the dogs in the houses below barked like crazy trying to chase them off.
The next day the people in the
house below lit crackers to frighten
the monkeys away. The monkeys ran
helter-skelter. Some were even carrying baby monkeys around their waists.
Even Tin-Tin felt sorry for the monkeys this time. They looked so frightened and worried. It was sad to watch.
So Tin-Tin decided to talk to the leader of the monkey troop and tell him to stay in the jungle without asking for unwanted trouble from the people.
One day Tin-Tin finally got a chance to talk to the leader of the troop. “Why don’t you guys stay in the jungle? You don’t have to suffer this way without food and be chased off!” said Tin-Tin.
The leader looked at him with eyes filled with emotion. “We had a jungle…
a place to call our own. We didn’t have to visit home-gardens or create trouble. But the humans cut all the trees and cleared it. They built houses and chased us away from our own home-land. Now we have no place to go. No place to stay. Not enough food. So we have no choice but to go in to home-gardens. And now they chase us from here too!”
Tin-Tin was shocked to hear this. “Were do we live?” asked the monkey, “isn’t it unfair to steal our land and to chase us off this way?” With that he jumped off to another tree and left.
Tin-Tin watched the monkeys move away, thinking how unfair it was of people not to care at all about the other animals this way. After all the earth is home to all animals, not just humans!