The rabbit returned soon after the man left, and hunted about for his friend the monkey. He searched the vicinity thoroughly, but not a trace of his friend could he find, till he happened to look up aloft, and behold, there was Mr. Monkey in a tree munching away with every sign of enjoyment.
“Hello, comrade!” said the rabbit, “come down out of that.”
“I’m very comfortable here, thank you,” said the monkey.
“But where is my share of our plunder?” the rabbit asked indignantly.
“All gone, all gone,” mumbled the monkey, and pelted the rabbit with banana peels and wads of paper made out of the wrappings of the sugar. “Where have you been all this time? I got hungry and couldn’t wait any longer.”
The rabbit would not believe that the things in the bundles were all gone. He thought his friend was joking. But the truth of the matter was that the greedy creature had not left a scrap of either sugar or bananas.
“Do you really mean it?” said the poor rabbit at last.
“If you don’t believe me, come and see,” said the monkey, and he descended the tree-trunk nearly to the ground, seized the rabbit by his long ears, and hauled him up into the tree. After mocking him and making great sport he left him there and went away.
The rabbit was afraid to jump down from such a height. So he remained up in the tree for a long time. Many animals passed under the tree, but not one took pity on the rabbit until an old and foolish rhinoceros came along and stopped to rub his wrinkled hide against the tree-trunk.
“Kind rhinoceros,” said the rabbit, “let me jump down on your back.”