How monkeys reddened their rears

In ancient times, a young orphan girl lived in a small village. Her parents had died years before, saddling her with a huge debt to the village lord which she couldn't pay.

So, in lieu of cold cash, the lord forced the girl to become his maid servant. Time passed and the girl grew up to be a healthy but not particularly stunning woman. When she was 18, she found herself acquiring a strange black complexion. She was embarrassed by this and as such preferred staying in her thatched hut to going out and talking to people.

One day, on her way to the village well to take some water, she met an old woman in ragged clothes with a filthy appearance and a strange, fetid body odour .

The woman was begging villagers for a drink of water, but her appearance and smell dissuaded anyone from helping her. But the girl took pity, filled her bucket with well water and offered it to the old woman.

The old woman thanked her, but then suddenly fainted. The girl again tried to help her, and when the old woman came to she said she was hungry.

Though all she had with her was a small portion of steamed rice, she offered it to the old woman.

The old woman ate the whole piece, then, much to the girl's surprise, suddenly turned into a fairy with a glittering halo.

"You've proven you have a good heart" the fairy told the girl. "Now I'll grant you a wish, whatever it may be."

"The only thing I want now is to improve my appearance, so that I can make more friends" the girl replied.

"Simple," said the fairy. "Just take this white flower and sniff it. Within a week, you'll see a change."

Then she vanished.

A week later the girl found herself changing, and gradually she became the most beautiful girl in the village.

Her lord, however, was quite surprised, and upon hearing her story figured he wanted a dose of the same magic. He and his wife started taking buckets to the well in the hope of meeting the fairy's favour.

But at home, things got worse. The lord and his wife forced the girl to do more work than before and never let her out of the house.

One day, the lord and his wife met the old lady at the same place where the girl had. The same routine happened, and when they asked for a better and younger appearance, the fairy gave them two flowers to sniff.

But instead of becoming more beautiful, long, black hair started growing out of their bodies, which irritated the skin. The more they scratched, the longer the hairs grew. Within a week, the lord, his wife and their two sons had all turned into monkeys, leaving them with no other recourse than to run into the jungle.

The girl and many of the other villagers were happy, thinking they could now live in peace, and the lord's belongings were divided equally among the villagers.

But the monkey still longed for their possessions and returned to the village in the night, knocking at every window of every home, especially their old one. There they sat at the doorstep until daybreak, then they returned to the jungle.

The girl was petrified and prayed to the fairy for help. The fairy returned and told the girl to heat some ploughshares and leave them on the doorstep.

The girl did so and told other villagers to do the same thing.

Night fell and the monkeys came again. But when they tried to sit on the doorstep they burned their behinds on the ploughshares. They shouted and ran into the jungle, where they've been ever since.

But the red behind has stood the test of time.