9 The Monkeys’ Council

CHAPTER 9 The Monkeys' Council The first thing Doctor Dolittle did when he awoke was to announce he must go home. "It's

time to return to Puddleby," he said. "I've been away long enough." All the jungle animals were surprised to hear this. They all thought he would stay with them forever. So that night, all the monkeys got together to talk it over. The chief chimpanzee stood up first. "Why would he go away? Is he not happy with us?" Then the Grand Gorilla stood up. "I think we should ask him to stay. Perhaps if we build him a bigger house and a comfortable bed, he won't want to leave." Now Chee-Chee got up. All the others whispered, "Shh! Chee-Chee is going to speak." "My friends," Chee-Chee said, "I am afraid it is useless to ask the doctor to stay. He has many responsibilities back home in Puddleby. There are other animals waiting for him. The horse will be quite worried by now. There are friends he left behind. Also, a fisherman was kind enough to lend him a boat. That boat crashed against the

rocks, so Doctor Dolittle will have to replace it. It wouldn't be fair if he stayed here." The monkeys were silent for some time. They sat on the ground thinking carefully. At long last, one of the baboons stood up. "I don't think we should let this good man leave without giving him something. We should think of a present wonderful enough to say thank you for all his work. He needs to know how grateful we all are." A tiny red monkey at the back of the group stood up. "I agree! We need to find the perfect gift." "We should give him a giant bag of coconuts!" one monkey yelled. "A hundred bunches of bananas!" said another. Chee-Chee shook his head. "Those are wonderful ideas but they would be too heavy to carry home. Also, they would probably go bad before they were half eaten."

"I know!" said the little red monkey. "I know exactly what we should give him. A pushmipullyu." "That's a wonderful idea," Chee-Chee said. "No one back home has ever seen a pushmipullyu. That's perfect!"