After Mahu created humans, she created animals.
When she realized how much work was still required to create the world, she asked each animal to help in its own way.
"You have five fingers, Monkey!" Mahu exclaimed. "That means you can do all kinds of work. If you work well, I'll make you a human."
Monkey was very excited! He ran around boasting about how he was going to be a human, not an animal.
As a result, Monkey did no work at all.
"Because you accomplished nothing," Mahu told him, "you will never be more than just a monkey."
Inspired by: "Why the Monkey Is Not Part of Mankind" in African folk tales by Charlotte Leslau and Wolf Leslau. The story comes from the Dahomey Kingdom in what is now the country of Benin.
Notes: You can read the original story online. You can find out more about Mahu (Mawu) at Wikipedia.
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