A summary of an old Indian parable :

Once upon a time on the banks of the river Ganges, a monkey lived in a tree rich with fruit. One day as he was eating them, a crocodile showed up suddenly out of the river.
It was the first encounter ever between the two species. The monkey saw that he was hungry and threw down for him some of the fruits.

The crocodile ate them and found them quite delicious. As the days passed, the crocodile would swim across the river to meet the monkey and the two of them soon became good friends. One day, the crocodile took some fruits for his wife. When she asked him where he got such heavenly tasting food; the crocodile told her about his friend the monkey up in the tree. His wife then suggested to carry the monkey across the river to their home, so they could eat his heart; because she thought it would taste even better since the monkey ate the sweet fruits everyday. So he went back and invited the monkey to go home with him; but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to let his wife make a meal of his friend’s heart.

So he confessed the truth to his pal. The monkey now realized that he was in a dangerous situation and that his life was at risk. So he shrewdly replied to the crocodile that he had left his heart back in the tree and that they would have to swim back to get it. The foolish crocodile agreed and took him back. As soon as they reached the river bank, the monkey quickly jumped off his back and scaled up the tree to safety.

Even today, legend has it that when you visit the river Ganges, you can still hear the monkey laughing and chattering about how he fooled the crocodile so many ages ago. They also say if you look closely and long enough, you can see the crocodile patiently sitting by the edge of the river bank; still trying to catch the ever elusive monkey and eat his heart.