The Monkey and the Princess

Sheldon was exhausted. Keeping up with a bunch of seven year old kids hopped up on sugar takes its toll. It was worth seeing his daughter, Olivia, so happy at her birthday party but getting her to settle down for bed was proving a difficult task. She wiggled all through her bath and was jittery while brushing her teeth. No wonder his wife chose to clean up the house instead, it was easier than taking a hyper seven year old through her night time ablutions.

After drinking a glass of warm milk, Olivia finally started to calm down. Penny entered their daughter's room to help tuck her in. They sat on either side of her settling in for a bed time story.

"Which story will it be tonight?" asked Penny.

"I want to hear the Monkey and the Princess, daddy."

"The Monkey and the Princess? Olivia, you know that I only tell that story on special occasions." Sheldon teased.

"But daaaad! My birthday is a special occasion," whined Olivia. He took in her sweet little face. She definitely took after her mother with her soft, dirty blond curls and cute little nose. But she had his blue eyes.

"Very well. I suppose today does qualify as special occasion." Sheldon mockingly conceded. Penny smiled warmly at her husband while rubbing the growing bump at her abdomen.

"This is the story of the Monkey and the Princess…

Once in an ancient, far away land, there lived a monkey. His name was Bandar and he lived in the dense jungles of India. There were many monkeys in the jungle and they liked to make fun of Bandar because he was different. You see, Bandar was smaller and the only monkey with a long, brown furry tail. All the other monkeys had no tail. The monkeys would often tease Bandar so much that he would run away and cry.

One day the monkeys were being especially mean to Bandar. Some were pushing him. Others were throwing fruit. Bandar grew very angry and started yelling at the other monkeys.

"You all better stop being mean to me. One day you will be in deep trouble and need my help. I will not help you because you are all so mean to me!" The other monkeys laughed. Bandar grew even angrier and threw fruit back at them. In turn, the monkeys all got angry and started to chase Bandar.

Bandar was scared and ran as fast as he could. The monkeys kept up, chasing poor Bandar deeper and deeper into the jungle. Bandar ran even faster. He ran farther than the others and did not stop until he ran into a big tree.

"Oof" he said when he fell on the ground. Bandar got up to look around. He was nowhere near his home and he couldn't tell where he was. Bandar was lost. That is until he really looked at the tree he ran into. It was the biggest tree he'd ever seen. It was taller than all the trees in the jungle. It was so tall, that it disappeared into the clouds.

Then Bandar had a great idea. If he climbed the tree to the very top he could see where he was and find his way back home. He thought it would be fun and since he was a monkey he was very good at climbing. So he hopped on the tree and started to climb.

He went higher and higher and higher until he could see the tops of all the trees in the jungle. He stopped to look around and saw where he lived. Bandar was happy because now he knew which way his home was but he did not want to go home yet. He was having too much fun climbing. So Bandar decided to keep climbing he was curious to see how high the tree went. So up he went. He went up and up and up until he could touch the clouds. He stopped and looked around. He could see all of the jungle. It stretched far and wide all around him. He could see as far as the villages and the farms and the city where all the humans lived. He even saw as far as the palace where the Maharaja lived. It was a sight to see but he was not done, and climbed higher and higher and higher jumping up from branch to branch until finally Bandar reached the top.

Bandar was amazed he could see the whole world from the top of that tree. He could see beyond the jungle. Beyond the villages and the farms and the cities where all the humans lived. He could see beyond the palace where the Maharaja and his maharani lived. He saw the seas and the tallest mountains of the earth. Bandar sat at the top of the tree for a long time until he finally noticed that it was getting dark. The stars were coming out nearly within his reach. All the dangerous snakes and panthers would also come out. He needed to get down the enormous tree and across the jungle because it was not safe at night.

So he started to climb down another side of the large tree, jumping down from branch to branch. Right when he was about to leap down to the next branch, the monkey lost his footing and tumbled down, down, down into a gigantic nest. In the middle of the gigantic nest was a little hut made out of wood. Bandar was curious and moved slowly, carefully to the little hut. He sneaked up to the side and peeked into a small window. Bandar could not believe what he saw.

It was a human girl combing her hair. But this was no ordinary girl. She was very beautiful with long ebony hair, eyes the color of blue lotus in its first bloom and lips like the reddest rubies. So red, in fact, that it has been said that roses were be ashamed to bloom in her presence. It was the famed Draupadi, the beautiful princess of the Panchal kingdom.

Yes. Bandar had heard all the stories. The princess's mother was taken away by childbearing. So, many years later, the maharaja claimed the sorceress as his new maharani. But the new maharani was cold and evil and cast a spell upon the maharaja and his most trusted advisors to secretly rule the kingdom. The evil maharani took the princess as her personal servant. The young princess was ordered to groom the evil maharani and perform the many rituals to preserve the maharani's youth and beauty. But as the young princess grew she became more and more beautiful making the maharani grow jealous.

Eventually, the evil maharani grew so jealous that she ordered the palace guards to take the princess away to a clearing at the edge of the jungle. The guards tied Draupadi and tossed her over the back of a horse. The guards rode hard and fast for two nights and two days until they finally got to the edge of the jungle. There in the clearing was an enormous parrot. It had feathers in many different shades of red, green, purple, yellow and blue. The bird spread its giant wings and snatched up the princess in his talons and flew up, up, up far into the sky. So far up in the sky that even the clouds could not see them. And the Princess was never seen or heard from again.

Bandar continued to watch as the beautiful princess weaved lotus blossoms in her long, dark hair. The princess turned around and was frightened at the sight of a monkey staring at her through the window.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" yelled the princess

Bandar quickly lowered his eyes.

"Forgive me your highness, for I am but a monkey, and it is in my nature to climb. I did not mean to gaze upon you as you comb your hair."

The princess quickly recovered.

"I forgive you, little monkey. What is your name?"

"My name is Bandar, your highness."

"Please, call me Draupadi, for I am not a princess since I no longer live in a palace."

"As you wish," said the monkey. At this the princess gave him a smile that made her eyes twinkle. It was as if the gods themselves fashioned them from the stars.

"Bandar did you really climb the tree?"

"Yes I did. I was trying to climb all the way down before the sun set until I happened upon your hut."

By this time the sun had already set and darkness descended upon the jungle. Still feeling bad about her earlier rudeness, Draupadi invited the monkey to stay the night. It was never good idea to wander the dense jungle at night. The next day, the monkey thanked the princess for her kindness and bid her good bye. As the monkey moved to the edge of the large nest, the princess stopped him.

"Bandar, wait stop. Will you visit me? It gets lonely up here." The monkey promised to be back the next day which made the princess very happy.

Bandar would visit Draupadi often over the next weeks. They would talk and play and tell stories. They became fast friends. Bandar even taught the princess to climb to the top of the tree. Eventually the Draupadi was strong enough to climb to the bottom of the giant tree. They would frolic in the jungle and swim in the river. They were both very happy.

The animals of the jungle saw them and whispers of the monkey and the princess spread to even the farthest reaches of the great jungle. One day, at the very edge of a village, a farmer was walking to the river to get fresh water when he overheard what the cricket said to the turtle.

"Yes," said the cricket. "It is true, I tell you. The monkey visits the princess daily. They play among the trees and swim in the river."

The farmer was so shocked to hear that the princess was still alive and living in the jungle that he dropped his bucket and ran as fast as he could to his village to tell his wife. The farmer's wife told her friend the butcher's wife. The butcher's wife told her husband. The butcher told the smith who then told his own wife. A passing traveler overheard the smith telling his wife about a missing princess living in the jungle who befriended a monkey.

Soon, all the villages around the jungle knew of the monkey and the princess and the story was quickly spreading through all the farms and the city. Before long, word of the princess spread through the palace and reached the ears of the evil maharani and she was not pleased. In fact, she was very angry. So angry, that she commanded that all the monkeys of the jungle be captured and locked away in the dark prisons beneath the palace.

The maharaja's vast armies travelled for days through the city and the farms and the villages straight into the jungle capturing all the monkeys that lived there. Yes, they captured all of the monkeys with the exception of Bandar.

Bandar did not know of this. He was walking to the river to meet the princess when he came across a grasshopper.

"How did you escape the maharani's armies? I thought all the monkeys in the jungle were captured." said the grasshopper. Bandar was confused.

"What are you talking about, grasshopper?" the monkey asked.

"Do you not know that the maharani commanded that all the monkeys of the jungle be captured and locked away in the palace walls?"

"Why would she do that?"

"Maharani heard stories of a monkey who befriended the missing princess. She became angry and commanded that all the monkeys be put away. You must tell me monkey, how did you escape?"

"I didn't. I was at the top of the enormous tree at the heart of the jungle. I did not know all the monkeys were captured."

"You must save them," implored the grasshopper.

"I will not," said Bandar. "They were mean to me when I was nothing but nice to them. They deserve what they got." Bandar was not aware that the princess was behind him and heard everything.

"Bandar, we must save them," cried Draupadi. "They have been imprisoned because of the maharani's hatred for me. It would not be right to just leave them there."

Draupadi's words made Bandar feel shame in his attitude. Of course the princess was right. They needed to help the monkeys.

"I suppose you are right, Draupadi. But we cannot save them ourselves, we need help." The princess agreed. She thought for a moment before turning to the grasshopper.

"How did she find out I was no longer in the tree, grasshopper?"

"There have been whispers of a missing princess playing in the jungle, your highness." The princess was quiet for another few moments before she came up with a plan.

"We will free the monkeys and use that as a distraction. We will take down the maharani and be free of her rule as well. Grasshopper, I want you to spread the story that the maharani wants to capture and enslave all of the humans and the animals of the jungle so that she could sell them to the surrounding kingdoms. Make sure that it spreads throughout the jungle and into the villages and farms and the city. Then we will sit and wait."

"Yes, my princess," said the grasshopper before hopping away to get started on his task.

The days and weeks flew by and whispers of enslavement spread through the Panchal kingdom leaving the inhabitants of the land afraid and angry. During this time the monkey and the princess were working hard getting all of the creatures of the jungle ready to free all the monkeys at the palace. Finally, the day came when they moved into action.

All of the animals of the jungle gathered and moved toward the edge of the trees near the villages with Draupadi and Bandar leading them. The villagers were shocked to see the princess.

"It is true, the princess lives." The villagers whispered.

"It is true. I am the princess Draupadi and I will free the monkeys and bring down the maharani so that she never hurts anyone again. Join me." The villagers gathered and spread the word to the farms and the city. Soon every able-bodied human joined the princess and the monkey to storm the palace.

The monkeys were kept in a deep, dark pit. The humans lashed many ropes together to get the monkeys out but it was too short. The monkeys in the pit could not reach the rope. Bandar took a deep breath and climbed down the rope.

"Bandar, Bandar," cried the monkeys, "help us, please." Bandar grabbed the end of the rope with his hands and stretched out his long, furry tail. It was just long enough for the monkeys to reach.

"Take hold of my tail and climb up." He said. The monkeys did as he said and each monkey said their thanks and apologized for being mean to him. Soon all of the monkeys were out of the pit and joined the people of Panchal to the palace walls.

The elephants and the rhinoceros of the jungle charged the walls making them crumble. The evil maharani heard the crash and summoned her faithful giant parrot to crush the rebelling peoples below. But the people fought back, hurling stones and arrows lit with flames at the giant bird, until it fell from the skies unconscious and singed.

The evil maharani grew very afraid and fled the palace. But the monkeys saw and chased after her until she was trampled and was no more.

The maharani's enchantments dissipated and the maharaja was himself once more. Draupadi ran to her father and hugged him. She told him of her adventures and of the special friend who helped her. The maharaja was glad to have his daughter back and insisted that her friend, Bandar the Monkey stay in the palace for as long as he wished.

The maharaja's rule resumed in peace and all the people of the land and the creatures of the jungle lived in happiness for the rest of their days."

When the story finished, Sheldon and Penny kissed their little girl goodnight before tiptoeing to the door.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"If the baby's a boy, can I name him Bandar?" Olivia asked drowsily. Sheldon gave his gaspy little laugh while Penny grinned.

"We'll see. Sweet dreams, Liv-Liv."

Olivia drifted off to sleep before the door fully closed.

The End

A/N: I couldn't find an existing version of Sheldon's favorite children's story on the internet after days of searching. So I did the next best thing. I made one up. So you know, Bandar is one of the Hindi words for monkey. Draupadi was a figure in the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic called the Mahabharata. For my fellow BBT trivia buffs this is where the Bhagavad Gita Sheldon quotes from in The Cohabitation Formulation. Also, if some of the lines seem familiar, it's because I borrowed them from The Grasshopper Experiment.

That being said, I'd like to issue a writing challenge for those of you who dare. Write your own version of The Monkey and the Princess (TMatP).

TMatP Prompts (or a variation thereof):

1. Roses were ashamed to bloom in the presence of her ruby lips.

2. "Forgive me your highness, for I am but a monkey, and it is in my nature to climb. I did not mean to gaze upon you as you comb your hair."

3. A story in which a princess befriends a monkey.

4. The princess must have spirit whether or not she leads the monkeys to freedom.

Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

-Queen Spicy