THE MONKEY AS A PET
Among the many pets kept by man the monkey must be included. We take a fancy to it as if it were a far-off cousin of our own. With its power of walking on its hind legs and using its front legs as arms and its paws as hands, and also often in the shape of its face, it has something very human about it, and there is no animal in which young folks take more delight—and many older folks also.
What many enjoy in it is its love of mischief. There is no trick that it is not up to. At any rate when we hear of boys playing "monkey tricks" they seem to us, in this way, on the same level as the monkey. They would likely play more of them if they had the monkey's nimble ways, for the monkey has the best of the boy in getting out of reach. Many of them can even use their tails to swing on, leaving all their legs free for acts of mischief.
All this is very well in its way, but it stands in the way of keeping the monkey as a pet, for it is apt in the end to become a nuisance. No one knows what it is going to do next. It is as full of tricks as a watermelon is of seeds. As we do not enjoy a boy who is too fond of mischief, so we do not enjoy a monkey. He makes too much trouble. And then he is of no use except as a pet. We can not often put him to work, except in such ways as taking up pennies for an organ-grinder.
It is said that some people in the South are talking of using the monkey to pick cotton. This sounds very nice. No doubt the monkey can be taught to pick cotton, as it has been taught to do many other things. But it is not to be trusted. Any fancy, a bird flying over, a mouse stealing through the cotton field, will be likely to draw it from its task, and if any one tries to punish it for not keeping to its work he cannot be sure but that the little rascal will have revenge in some costly way.