6
" I cook better than you," Nick corrected absently. " I think monkeys can probably be taught to cook better than you." " I'd like to have a monkey that cooked for me," said Jamie. " I would pay him in bananas. His name would be Alphonse." " I agree, that would be awesome." Mae said. " People would come for dinner just to see the monkey chef." " You're raving," Nick said, defrosting chicken in the microwave. Mae was a bit impressed with how he seemed to look at the appliance and instantly comprehend its mysteries, when she'd been heating up ready-made meals for years by a method of pressing random buttons and hoping. " I know that's the only way Jamie communicates with people, but I expected better of you, Mavis." " We're cutting out the whole Mavis thing right now, Nick," Mae said warningly." How many bananas would be good payment for a monkey?" Jamie wanted to know. " I would want to pay Alphonse a fair wage. "
8
" No one ever said that you would live to see the repercussions of everything you do, or that you have guarantees, or that you are not obliged to wander in the dark, or that everything will be proved to you and neatly verified like something in science. Nothing is: at least nothing that is worthwhile. I didn't bring you up only to move across sure ground. I didn't teach you to think that everything must be within our control or understanding. Did I? For, if I did, I was wrong. I fyou won't take a chance, then the powers you refuse because you cannot explain them, will, as they say, make a monkey out of you. "
― Mark Helprin , Winter's Tale
18
" When he came down, he was slower, and clutching something his hand. He leapt down the last 5 feet or so and came over to me, uncurling his fingers. In his palm was something trembling and silky and the bright, delicious pale gold of apples; in the gloom of the jungle it looked like light itself. Uva nudged the thing with a finger and it turned over, and I could see it was a monkey of some sort, though no monkey I had ever seen before; it was only a few inches larger than one of the mice I had once been tasked with killing, and his face was a wrinkled black heart, its features pinched together but its eyes large and as blankly blue as a blind kitten's. It had tiny, perfectly formed hands, one of which was gripping its tail, which it had wrapped around itself and which was flamboyantly furred, its hair hanging like a fringe. "
― Hanya Yanagihara , The People in the Trees
20
" Magnus threw the monkey a fig. The monkey took the fig." There," said Magnus. " Let us consider the matter settled." The monkey advanced, chewing in a menacing fashion." I rather wonder what I am doing here. I enjoy city life, you know," Magnus observed. " The glittering lights, the constant companionship, the liquid entertainment. The lack of sudden monkeys." He ignored Giuliana's advice and took a smart step back, and also threw another piece of fruit. The monkey did not take the bait this time. He coiled and rattled out a growl, and Magnus took several more steps back and into a tree.Magnus flailed on impact, was briefly grateful that nobody was watching him and expecting him to be a sophisticated warlock, and had a monkey assault launched directly to his face.He shouted, spun, and sprinted through the rain forest. He did not even think to drop the fruit. It fell one by one in a bright cascade as he ran for his life from the simian menace. He heard it in hot pursuit and fled faster, until all his fruit was gone and he ran right into Ragnor." Have a care!" Ragnor snapped.He detailed his terrible monkey adventure twice." But of course you should have retreated at once from the dominant male," Giuliana said. " Are you an idiot? You are extremely lucky he was distracted from ripping out your throat by the fruit. He thought you were trying to steal his females." " Pardon me, but we did not have the time to exchange that kind of personal information," Magnus said. " I could not have known! Moreover, I wish to assure both of you that I did not make any amorous advances on female monkeys." He paused and winked. " I didn't actually see any, so I never got the chance." Ragnor looked very regretful about all the choices that had led to his being in this place and especially in this company. Later he stooped and hissed, low enough so Giuliana could not hear and in a way that reminded Magnus horribly of his monkey nemesis: " Did you forget that you can do magic?" Magnus spared a moment to toss a disdainful look over his shoulder." I am not going to ensorcel a monkey! Honestly, Ragnor. What do you take me for? "