The Wind Is My Mother The Life and Teachings of A Native American Shaman, 

by Bear Heart (Marcellus Williams) with Molly Larkin, 

[page 110 - 115 , Releasing and Relinquishing, ISBN 0-425-16160-9, Berkley Books, New York.]

"...A witch doctor from South Africa told me how they catch monkeys there. They bore a hole in a pumpkin large enough to slip in a banana, then they reach through the hole with a spoon, clean out the inside, and drop in the banana. When a monkey comes around, he smells the banana inside the pumpkin, sticks his little forearm in there, feels around, grabs hold of that banana, and then he's stuck. His brain will not tell him to free his hand he's got to release that banana. He just hold on.
That's the way of a lot of human being today-holding on to that banana for years,. You haven't let go of your old hurts and disappointments. There are many, many things that happen in your life that you should have gotten rid of, but you're still holding on to them, you still have a big dialogue going on....

Now what happens? You are given a choice when you hold on to that banana. A choice either to let go or to blame that stupid old pumpkin: If it wasn't for that pumpkin, I'd be out there free."...

There are many, many ways to let go of our bananas, so to speak....

When you learn and say, "I did it," and you accept that fact, then you have dealt with something that's been nagging you for years and years and years. You have finally let go of the banana of that situation and it doesn't come and nag you all the time....

When you release and relinquish, then you're okay. But if you just release, it will keep coming back, over and over and over to bug you. Relinquish if you really want to release."...

The Wind Is My Mother