all the animals knew that crocodile had a big pile of gold in her house, but none of them had ever seen it because crocodile was nasty and mean. she would chase them away and bite them with her sharp teeth. one hot day in summer, monkey was out walking by the river when he saw crocodile lying in the sunshine. monkey, who was very naughty, picked up a stick and poked crocodile on the side of her body. crocodile didn’t move, so monkey poked her again.“she must be dead,” said monkey. he ran off to tell the other animals. all the animals arrived to have a funeral for crocodile. they stood around her body and talked. they wanted to know who would get crocodile’s big pile of gold. they all wanted the gold, of course, but the law of the bushveld said that the gold belonged to crocodile’s relatives. and that was the problem – nobody knew who crocodile’s living relatives were. so wise tortoise called a big meeting on the river bank to find out.first, the birds, with their colorful feathers and beautiful voices, stood up to speak. “we must be the living relatives of our dear mother crocodile,” they sang together. “even though crocodile was not as beautiful as we are, she laid big eggs in the sand. we deserve her big pile of gold.” the other animals shouted, “nooo!” and the birds sat down.