Week 5 Storytelling: The Trial Of The Father

We find ourselves in a musty, crowded courtroom to see if the father of a young woman is guilty of murder, after killing a monkey, which caused his young daughter to commit suicide. The court was to decide if he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter for his daughter, or murder for the monkey. This was the first time that someone had been prosecuted for killing an animal, and many people believed that he was really being charged with causing his daughter's death.

The father is brought in by the bailiff, looking incredibly nervous and tired. He hadn't slept in weeks. He didn't understand why he was being prosecuted for murder, all he did was kill an animal. He didn't realize it would cause any trouble, let alone cause his daughter to kill herself. He nervously looked over at the jury, some who looked at him sympathetically, and others who looked at him with pure hatred in their eyes. He took his seat and waited for the trial to begin. 

Judge: "Prosecution I'll allow you to begin".

Prosecutor: "The prosecution calls the girl's father up to the stand".

He wasn't prepared for this. He didn't think he'd have to testify so soon. He glanced over at his lawyers, who were equally as surprised. They hadn't prepared him for the kinds of questions that the prosecution would ask, or how he was supposed to answer. 

The judge looked at him expectantly and said "Sir, we don't have all day".

The father reluctantly made his way to the stand, and waited for the questioning to begin.

Prosecution: "Sir, is it true that you killed the monkey because you didn't want your daughter to marry him?"

Father: "Yes, that's correct".

(courtroom)

Prosecution: "Why was that such an issue for you? In this day and age we often see those kinds of marriages happen. In fact, there was a woman who gave her daughter to a tiger to be married". 

Father: "I wanted my daughter to marry a human, not a monkey. I knew that she loved him though, so I thought something had to be done. I realize now that my daughter just had a monkey soul and that she needed to be with him". 

Prosecution: "So, you're telling me that you murdered an innocent animal who would your daughter wanted to marry, for your own selfish reasons? Don't you realize your actions led to your daughter's death?"

Father: "I'm very aware of that, sir. You just don't understand. I didn't want my daughter to marry an animal. I wasn't okay with it. We've killed animals for many years before this, so I don't see what the issue is".

Prosecution: "The issue is that your actions caused another human to die. Your SELFISH actions. The prosecution has no more questions". 

The trial went on for days. The father was emotionally drained and just couldn't understand why he was in trouble for killing an animal. He was also mourning the death of his daughter, which took an even bigger emotional toll on him. 

Finally, after a long day of arguments, the jury ruled not guilty, and the father was allowed to go on with his life. 

Bibliography: This story is based on "The Monkey and the Girl" by C.H. Bompas. 

Author's Note: "The Monkey and the Girl" is a very interesting story. It starts with the girl agreeing to marry the monkey, but then her father finds out and disapproves. He decides that he needs to kill the monkey and instead of just burying him, he burns him like they would a real man. The girl is extremely upset and distracts the men burning the monkey so that she can jump into the fire. Her father says that she just must have a monkey soul, so she wanted to be with the dead monkey. I thought it would be fun to kind of spin it into a court trial, since murder is obviously something that would get you into prison today. I think that the father would justify his actions and not really understand why he was in trouble for killing a monkey or for his daughter killing herself, and would explain that he thought his daughter had a monkey soul. He would probably be super distraught over losing his daughter, and kind of regret his actions since it did lead to her death. I think that the jury would also find him not guilty, at least for murder, since he didn't actually kill a human being, even though he shouldn't have killed the monkey either.