The Poodle and the Leopard

A wealthy old lady decided to go on a photo safari in Africa. She took
her faithful pet poodle along for company. One day, the poodle starts
chasing butterflies and before long the poodle discovers that he is
lost. So, wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his
direction with the obvious intention of having lunch. The poodle thinks,
"OK, I'm in deep trouble now! Then he noticed some bones on the ground
close by, and immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his
back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the
poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder
if there are any more around here." Hearing this, the leopard halts his
attach in mid-stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks
away into the trees. "Whew," says the leopard. "That was close. That
poodle nearly had me." Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the
whole scene from a nearby tree figures he can put this knowledge to good
use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes. But
the poodle saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and
figured that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the
leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the
leopard. The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here
monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving
canine." Now the poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his
back, and thinks, "What am I going to do now?" But instead of running,
the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't
seen them yet...and just when they get close enough to hear, the poodle
says.... "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off half an hour ago to
bring me another leopard!"