But the other monkeys in the woods heard what the mother of Mappo was
saying, and they, too, began to shout, in their language:
"Look out for the tiger! There is a tiger hiding down under the bushes!
Look out for him!"
Soon the whole jungle was filled with the sound of the chattering of the
monkeys, as, one after another, they began to shout. It was a warning
they shouted--a warning to Mr. Monkey to be careful when he came near
his home--to be careful of the tiger lying in wait for him.
My! what a noise those monkeys made, shouting and chattering in the
jungle. You could hear them for a mile or more. It was their way of
telephoning to Mappo's papa. Monkeys cannot really telephone, you
know--that is, not the way we do--but they can shout, one after another,
so as to be heard a long way off.
First one would chatter something about the tiger--then another monkey,
farther off, would take up the cry, and so on until Mr. Monkey heard it.
So it was as good as a telephone, anyhow.
As soon as Mappo's papa, who had gone a long distance from the
tree-house to look for some bananas for his family--as soon as he heard
the shouting about the tiger, he said to himself:
"Well, I must get home as quickly as I can, to look after my family. But
I'll be careful. I hope Mappo and the others will stay in the tall
trees."
For Mr. Monkey well knew that if his wife and little ones stayed up in
the high trees the tiger could not very well get at them, though tigers
can sometimes climb low trees.
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