Monkey Tales Around the World

Here are 63 traditional stories from world folklore about our nearest relatives: monkeys and apes. As with many tales about other animals, those about monkeys and apes sometimes reflect what we as humans admire about ourselves. However, the stories more frequently embody features that we dislike. Whether they depict monkeys and apes as annoying or clever pranksters, imitative nuisances and troublemakers, loyal and wise friends, or heroic and noble characters who sacrifice themselves for others, the selections in this anthology about our closest primate kin can tell us much about ourselves and what it means to be human.