Book 54: "Beastly Tales" by Vikram Seth

'Crocodile, your wife, I know
Hungers after mangoes so
That she'd pine and weep and swoon,
Mango-less in burning June.'
Then Kuroop the crocodile,
Gazing upwards with a smile,
Thus addressed his monkey friend:
'Dearest monkey, in the end,
Not the fruit, but your sweet love,
Showered on us from above,
Constant through the changing years,
Shakes her grief and dries her tears.'
(This was only partly true,
She liked love, and mangoes too.)

Humorous verse renditions of ten tales about animals. Eight are based on Indian, Chinese, Greek and Ukrainian folk-tales, and two were dreamed up by the author. Cute.