It was hot!  The boys lay in the shade of a tree and talked.  The heat made them feel sleepy.  "Ugh," groaned Sthembiso, "I'm so hot.  I wish I could cool off now."

"I know," said Tsepho, "let's go to the river and swim."  Pule and Thabo jumped up in excitement.   "Yes, let's go!" and they started to run towards the river.  Sthembiso called after them,  "No! Stop guys",  you know that there are crocodiles in the river."   "Rubbish," said the other three boys and they continued running in anticipation of a lovely cool dip in the water."

Down at the river Mr Ngwenya was threatening to eat Monkey.  Clever monkey was up the tree to stay out of his way.   Monkey saw the boys running towards the river and he told Mr Ngwenya that there was a much better meal on the way.

Mr Ngwenya quickly slipped back into the bushes next to the river to wait for his meal.  He could hear the pounding of the boys' feet as they ran towards the river and the shouts of Sthembiso as he tried to call them back.  "Come along, boys, come and fill my tummy", thought Mr Ngwenya and his mouth began to drool as he anticipated the delicious meal to come.

As the boys approached the river they could hear Monkey shouting a warning, but they couldn't understand him.  They could only hear monkey noises.   Monkey was trying to say, "Stop boys! Turn around and run away.  There is danger in the river.  Mr Ngwenya is hiding in the bushes."  But all the boys could hear was Monkey's chattering language.

Monkey started to pick some of the fruit from the tree and throw it at the boys.  "Ouch!" said Tsepho. "That was sore!"  "Hey!" shouted Thabo as a mango hit him on the nose.   "Monkey, what's your problem? Why are you throwing fruit at us?"  The monkey continued to chatter loudly and throw mangoes at the boys.

"Hey guys, I think Monkey is trying to tell us something," shouted Pule.  "He keeps looking at those bushes over there,"  and Pule picked up one of the fruits and threw it into the bush.  Immediately the boys saw the bush move and they ran back as Mr Ngwenya lumbered up onto his short legs and lifted his head.

"Run!" yelled Sthembiso.  The three boys took off and raced towards the higher ground and safety.   "Whew!" said Pule.  "That was lucky.  Monkey was trying to warn us of the danger.  It's a good thing I threw that mango into the bush."   "Thank you for the warning, Monkey!  You saved our lives," shouted all four boys.

The boys went back to lie under the tree near the village.  Even if it was hot they didn't fancy being a take-away meal for Mr Ngwenya and of course they never ignored the warnings about the crocodiles in the river again.