The Monkey and the Dolphin

It is the custom, when travelling by sea, to take along little Maltese dogs and monkeys to pass the time during the crossing. Now a man who was sailing had a monkey with him. When they reached Sunium, the promontory of Attica, a violent storm broke. The ship capsized and everyone saved themselves by swimming, the monkey like the rest. A dolphin spotted him, and, taking him for a man, slipped under him, supported him, and carried him towards dry land. As it reached the Piraeus, the seaport of Athens, it asked the monkey whether he was an Athenian. The monkey after replying that he was, and that he even had illustrious relatives at Athens, it asked him whether he also knew the Piraeus. The monkey, thinking it meant a man, said yes, and that he was even one of his close friends. Indignant at such a lie, the dolphin plunged him into the water and drowned him.