Storymania - The Story Of Trading (Featuring Man And Ape) by Rowan Davies

The Story Of Trading (Featuring Man And Ape)
Rowan Davies

     If you can envisage the Homo Sapiens entire existence and evolution as taking part in one day then only this morning was primitive Man leaving the jungle and his less educated cousins, the chimpanzees, behind. Shortly after breakfast he had picked up a couple of maple leaves that would cover the necessary parts of his anatomy and headed off on an adventure, leaving the treacherous forest for the more secure hills. He wanted to build a home on the highest mount he could find, hoping it would provide enough food and shelter to keep him happy for the rest of his days.
     After many arduous seconds (years in reality) of journeying Man arrived at the highest peak in all the land only to find the hill bare of food and other important resources that he would undoubtedly need if he was going to have any chance of surviving. He was understandably annoyed by this -especially since the journey had cost him the best part of his right arm due to unexpected alligator attacks- and was about to head back to the jungle when he heard what seemed to be the distant voice of a fellow human.
     He turned with what was left of his right arm raised, ready to attack anybody who thought they could possibly make his life any worse than it presently was, and was rather astounded to see a small, well groomed ape, just a few hundred yards away, shouting in his direction. He was even more astounded to see that the creature was wearing an exquisite dinner jacket that had clearly been fine-tailored to suit every shaggy curve of his primitive body.
     The ape was yelling now.
     "Ahoy! Over here! Yeah you! Hellooo?!"
     "Yes, yes, I can see you!" replied Man, slightly taken aback by the situation he now found himself to be a part of.
     "What are you doing here?" called the ape, cupping his hands over his mouth in order to project his voice a bit more, but failing miserably.
     "Well, I thought I’d just pop up this rather nice mound here to see if there was any chance that I might be able to live on it for the rest of my days. But of course there…"
     "Got anything to trade, guv?" the ape interrupted.
     "Anything to what?" questioned Man, beginning slowly to lower his pathetic, mauled arm. Slowly, not only because of the physical pain it was giving him, but also because he was still considering whether or not to beat the ape to death with it in order to get himself a well deserved meal. "Look, do you mind if we continue this conversation a bit closer together?" shouted Man, beginning to find the verbal exchange between him and the ape somewhat exhausting. "It’s just that, well, I’ve had a bit of a bad day and shouting at any kind of animal, whether it be a crocodile intent on ripping off a perfectly good arm, or a well groomed monkey asking questions concerning something called trade, is not my idea of relaxation."
     "Not at all," replied the ape. "Come over here."
     The creature known to his close friends as simply Ape was beginning to think he had picked the wrong candidate to be trading with, and that this was not going to be a simple task of swapping and parting.
     Man grunted in response to the ape’s command, then he looked down at his weathered, dirty feet, sitting so contentedly in the fresh grass below. He grunted once more and began to make his way over to the strange creature that he had spotted only a few seconds ago.
     "You mean to say that you don’t know what trade is?" asked ape when man was close enough to be talked to at a reasonable volume.
     "Well, no," replied man, slightly annoyed at being outwitted by such a lesser being. "Not really."
     "Ah. Shame, that," said the ape, looking rather fed up with his findings. He stood silently for a few seconds, seemingly to ponder at Man.
     "Would you like to tell me what it is?" inquired man, becoming disturbed by the ape’s excessive pondering.
     "Yes. Yes, I suppose so." said the ape.
     The monkey let himself ponder a few seconds more and then proceeded to outline the very basics of trading to Man whilst coming to the conclusion that these human beings weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
     After the brief explanation, Man told the ape everything about his previous life in the jungle and how he had wanted to move on to fresher, greener pastures but had so far been unsuccessful in his findings, including the very hill him and the monkey-man were now standing on. The ape said that this was all very well and that he pitied Man greatly but would he please not call him monkey-man any more because his name was in fact, Ape. Man agreed and they both sat down on the least ant-infested patch of ground they could find to think and talk business.
     "Am I right in saying you have nothing to trade?" asked Ape.
     "Yes, that is correct,"
     "But you need food to eat and materials to shelter under?"
     "Indeed," said Man as he began to sulk at the fact that his case could not be more hopeless.
     "Hmmm…"said Ape.
     Ape thought. Then he considered. Then he tried both at the same time.
     "I think," he said at last. "I have an answer to your problem."

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     A few hours later Man found himself lounging on the grass next to the shack that he had built, literally single-handedly, with the quality materials Ape had given him earlier. He also found himself watching tomato plant seedlings poke their first buds through the top soil of the cultivated ground in front of him. These again had been obtained from Ape who, as it turned out, happened to be a very nice person. Well, monkey.
     Man was confused at first when he heard Ape’s solution to the problem that they had both sat down to solve. He didn’t quite understand what possible use Ape could have for the rest of Man’s right arm, but the trading of it for some life saving resources, at the time, seemed preferable to a long agonising death by starvation. When Man questioned the monkey as to his motives, Ape confessed that he felt sorry for him and that, as well as wanting to relieve Man of the pain and burden of having only half his right arm, he hated to see a grown man cry. It was also to be his first trade in many months.
     Ape then took Man to his own plot of land where he had built, long ago, a scruffy looking hut of his own. He gave Man some seeds and wood that he had kept stored in it for an occasion such as this and was helping Man back to his hill with the goods when he had a thought.
     "Come back in a few hours and we’ll have some dinner together." He shouted to Man as he was later departing. Man, of course, agreed and that was what marked the end of his struggle for survival and the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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     As soon as Man became bored with the activity of watching seeds grow, he stood up and prepared to leave for Ape’s house. He picked up the leftover wood that was accumulated in the building of his house and put it all in a grass basket that he had made earlier as a gift for his newly acquired monkey friend. After this he headed for Ape’s house with a slight spring in his step.
     When Man arrived at the shabby hut, Ape was already eating, sitting at a low makeshift table. He was motioned in by the monkey and motioned again to take a seat. Ape finished his mouthful and began to speak.
     "Terribly sorry about starting without you, it’s just that I haven’t had any food for quite a while. Do tuck in now. Your plate’s on the side there" He raised one hairy finger and pointed towards a steaming plate by the side of the hut.
     "Thanks a lot," said Man, meaning it. "It looks lovely. Oh, before I forget, I made you a basket to keep various things in that might not have homes."
     "Oh how nice," said Ape, only slightly raising his head to look before tucking in again.
     Man took the wood out of the basket and laid it by his plate. With a lot of one-handed juggling he was eventually able to sit down opposite Ape with the dinner in his lap. He followed Ape’s example and started picking apart the food on the plate with his hand before shovelling it, as delicately as possible, into his mouth. A few seconds later there was a pause in their meal when the thought occurred to them both that there must be a more polite and orderly way to eat such food, but this moment soon passed and they decided to engage in a spot of polite conversation instead. The first thing that Man said was instinctual.
     "This is a lovely meal,"
     "Why, thank you. Maybe you’ll return the favour some time," They chuckled politely.
     "I was just wondering," Man said. "where do you keep the cattle that have provided for such a delicious meal?"
     "Oh, I don’t bother keeping livestock for fresh meat," answered Ape politely. "that’s one of the benefits of trading."
     Man proceeded, very impolitely Ape thought, to throw up into the monkey’s new basket gift.