the midday sun
A Senegal forest in Western Africa is an ideal home for a monkey -- a perfect paradise , in fact . The trees , with their delightful branches , which seem to be just made for monkeys to sit on ; the nice , bushy leaves , which form such cosy hiding-places , and the delicious nuts , berries and various kinds of fruit , all combine to make monkey life extremely happy . In this delightful place , one fine , warm evening , Mona was born . His mother had prepared her nursery some time before ; she had built a nice little hut , where it was warm and dry , under the outgrowing boughs of a tree ; had carpeted it with thick , dry leaves and grass , twined and interlaced twigs and branches overhead to keep out the fierce rays of the midday sun and the occasional heavy showers , and had , in fact , made it just as cosy as it was possible for a monkey nursery to be . So , in one way , Mona 's birth took place under good auspices , and he , being her first-born , more than came up to his mother 's expectations . In her eyes he was the finest , the strongest and the most beautiful monkey that had ever existed , and although he whimpered all through that night , and squirmed and wrinkled up his already wrinkled little face into the most hideous contortions and grimaces , he was , notwithstanding , an ideal and lovely baby . His mother forgot all her anxieties and troubles respecting him , and gathered him to her motherly breast with a little guttural cry of joy .