Each time he asked : ` Are you there ? ' the answer would come : ` Yes , of course , where else should I be ? ' And the stag ran , and ran , and ran , till he could run no more , and dropped down dead on the grass . And the tortoise , when he thinks about it , laughs still . But the tortoise was not the only creature of whose tricks stories were told in the forest . There was a famous monkey who was just as clever and more mischievous , because he was so much quicker on his feet and with his hands . It was quite impossible to catch him and give him the thrashing he so often deserved , for he just swung himself up into a tree and laughed at the angry victim who was sitting below . Sometimes , however , the inhabitants of the forest were so foolish as to provoke him , and then they got the worst of it . This was what happened to the barber , whom the monkey visited one morning , saying that he wished to be shaved . The barber bowed politely to his customer , and begging him to be seated , tied a large cloth round his neck , and rubbed his chin with soap ; but instead of cutting off his beard , the barber made a snip at the end of his tail . It was only a very little bit and the monkey started up more in rage than in pain . ` Give me back the end of my tail , ' he roared , ` or I will take one of your razors . ' The barber refused to give back the missing piece , so the monkey caught up a razor from the table and ran away with it , and no one in the forest could be shaved for days , as there was not another to be got for miles and miles . As he was making his way to his own particular palm-tree , where the cocoanuts grew , which were so useful for pelting passers-by , he met a woman who was scaling a fish with a bit of wood , for in this side of the forest a few people lived in huts near the river . ` That must be hard work , ' said the monkey , stopping to look ; ` try my knife -- you will get on quicker . ' And he handed her the razor as he spoke . A few days later he came back and rapped at the door of the hut . ' I have called for my razor , ' he said , when the woman appeared . ' I have lost it , ' answered she . ` If you do n't give it to me at once I will take your sardine , ' replied the monkey , who did not believe her .
The woman protested she had not got the knife , so he took the XXXXX and ran off .
cocoanuts course days fish morning palm-tree razors sardine snip thrashing