Mariko Makes a Discovery
Mariko sat by the tree line looking onto the beach; the rest of her family were foraging for food and the younger members were larking about, as they were wont to do.
As she sat there just dreaming of nothing in particular a thought occurred to her.
It would not be long before the tourists would come, and in order that they would have contact with Mariko and her family the boat men would carry buckets of potatoes cooked and ready to eat. Mariko’s family were getting quite lazy with all this free food around, this was Mariko’s honest opinion; it did not bode well for the future of the little ones she thought. One day they would stop bringing the potatoes and what would they do for food then. There was not that much variety on the island, and the potatoes were a very welcome treat. Hot and soft they filled the belly nicely till tea time; beyond that even sometimes, having eaten too much the youngsters would flop to sleep until the next morning.
Mariko was very wise. Her Great, Great, Grandmother had been very wise too, and it was said that Mariko most resembled her from all her relations, Mariko would do great things, she realised that depending on the boat men to bring them potatoes was not a good thing. Lately they had begun to be late, and there were less people with them to visit with the family. Mariko knew that something must be done to encourage the people to come back so that they would have potatoes every day, all summer long.
The great water lapped at the shore, and the sun twinkled on the wavelets, and Mariko sat and watched and waited for the thing. She waited and she watched, still and silent as the noise around her lessened and her focus of attention was just so, and then it happened. She could see the answer, just as Great, Great Grandmother had seen in her time. All at once Mariko knew what to do.
It was time for the boats to come, bringing the people and of course the all important potatoes.
Mariko waited for the optimum opportunity to present itself, and perhaps she would make it happen should that be necessary.
There they were, coming around the headland.
She was very excited, but knew that she must appear totally at ease. The element of surprise was tantamount.
As the boat men climbed down from the prows of their crafts and lifted the buckets full of potatoes onto the sand the people left in the boats all stood waiting expectantly – and oh today would be a wonderful day for them and for us Mariko thought.
Distributing the potatoes was not a beautiful thing to see, they were more or less thrown on the sand for the family to pick up when they emerged from the tree line as they were doing now.
Unseen, Mariko made her way along one side of a boat and picked a beautiful potatoe from a bucket. Making sure she was in full view of the people on the boat she showed them the potatoe and sniffed it, wrinkling her nose she dipped the potatoe into the water and washed it.
The people loved this – there was a little macaque washing her potatoe before she would eat, how divine – quickly take photos!
How clever it was this little monkey – how entertaining to see – quick, quick give them more, make sure they are all sandy and gritty so they will wash them. They are so like us when they do these things are they not?
The rest of the family saw what was going on and copied Mariko after a while, some not all; it would take a while to convince them all.
The most wonderful thing though that Mariko found, was that dipping the potatoe in the water gave it a better taste. Very savoury – little did she know but she had just salted her potatoe! What a discovery, they tasted better after they had been in the water.
Later just before nesting down, Mariko thought of her Grandmother, who had discovered the hot springs so long ago. Using them to sit in when the snow was deep and the temperature so low that her old bones would hardly move without singing a terrible shrieking song.
So on an island off Japan, there is a troop of Macaque monkeys who wash and salt their food in the sea in summer and who bathe in hot springs to lessen their discomfort in the winter.
Mariko, just as her Great, Great, Grandmother had been, was the hundredth monkey.
