A wealthy old lady decided to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful, elderly poodle, Cuddles, along for the company.

One day Cuddles started chasing butterflies and before long, he realized he was lost.  Wandering about, he noticed a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having a poodle lunch.

Cuddles knew he had to think fast.  Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.  Just as the leopard was about to leap, Cuddles exclaimed loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard.  I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the young leopard halted his attack in mid-strike.  A look of terror came over him and he slunk away into the trees.  “Whew!” said the leopard, “That was close.  That old poodle nearly had me.”

A monkey had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree.  He figured he could put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard.  So off he went, but Cuddles saw him heading after the leopard and figured that something must be up.

The monkey soon caught up with the leopard, told his story and struck a deal for himself with the leopard.  The young leopard was furious at being fooled that way.  “Here, monkey,” he said, “hop on my back and you’ll see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!”