The Land of the Monkeys was very quiet.
Dr. Dolittle could sense the sickness in the air.
All around him were hundreds, no, thousands, of sick monkeys.
Many had already died.
First, Dr. Dolittle separated the sick and the healthy.
Dr. Dolittle's animals helped him.
"Chee-Chee! Build me a hut!" he said.
"Jip! Too-Too! Find the other monkeys in the land!
Bring them here," he ordered.
"Gub-Gub! Dab-Dab! Help Polynesia find some herbs!"
Then Dr. Dolittle gave shots to the healthy monkeys so they wouldn't get sick.
Meanwhile, the sick ones needed to be cared for.
But there were just too many.
"Doctor, we cannot do this by ourselves," Chee-Chee said tiredly.
"We need help," admitted Polynesia.
Dr. Dolittle thought for a moment.
"Let's send out a message to the other animals in the jungle," he said.
A few days later, the leaders of the lions, leopards, and antelope paid a visit to the doctor.
"The monkeys need your help," Dr. Dolittle explained.
"My help? Ha! I am the king of beasts!" the proud lion roared.
"Monkeys are dirty and smelly!
I wouldn't even eat them!"
With that, the lion turned up his nose and walked away.
The leader of leopards looked at the doctor.
"If the lion king doesn't help, then I won't help!"
He too turned and walked away.
"We feel bad for the monkeys, but we don't know how to help.
I'm sorry." Even the antelope turned away.
At home, the lioness was waiting for her husband.
"One of the cubs is sick!" she cried.
"I heard there is an animal doctor here," his wife continued.
"Yes, I met him," the lion answered proudly.
Then the lion told his wife what he had said to the doctor.
The lioness was very angry.
"Are you out of your mind?" she shouted.
"He is here to help the animal world!"
The proud lion suddenly turned red.
"We need him to help our baby!" his wife roared.
The lioness began pulling her husband's hair.
"OUCH! OUCH!" he cried.
"Go back and tell him you're sorry!" she shouted.
The lion did not want to lose all his hair.
And he did not want his baby to be sick.
And he did not want his wife to be angry with him.
He knew he must help the monkeys.
"Look! Dr. Dolittle!" Jip suddenly barked.
It was the proud leader of the lions.
He brought hundreds of other animals with him.
"Uh, Dr. Dolittle, do you still need my help?" the lion asked.
"Yes, we really do," Dr. Dolittle nodded.
"I am King of the Jungle," the lion said proudly.
"I know," the doctor replied kindly.
"So I commanded the animals to come and help," the lion continued.
"Thank you very much," replied the doctor.
Every day, more and more jungle animals came to help.
With their help, the monkeys got better quickly.
Dr. Dolittle's work was almost done.
Dr. Dolittle made a special visit to the lion's den.
"Is my baby okay?" asked the worried lion.
"He just needs this and he'll be fine."
"Thank you, Dr. Dolittle," the leader of the lions bowed his head.
"No, thank you.
Without your help, the monkeys would have all died," said the doctor.