The Tale of a Clever Monkey

Once in a forest there lived a clever monkey. In search of food, he led his troop through the dense woods, leaping from tree to tree. Along the way, they gathered fruits here and there, and these humble pickings sustained them day after day.

Then one afternoon, the monkey spotted some extraordinarily delicious fruits hanging high in the branches of a tree. He and his companions made desperate attempts to reach them. They took turns climbing the trunk, hurled stones from below, shook the branches with all their might—but the fruits hung too high, beyond their grasp.

At last, the clever monkey called an urgent meeting with his troop to devise a solution. After much discussion, he arrived at a decision: they would fell the tree at its roots, and then the fruits would be theirs. The other monkeys praised his wisdom lavishly, marveling at his ingenuity, and assured him of their complete support.

The truth was, they could not bear to give up those fruits. They were incomparably delicious—far superior to the ordinary fruits they'd been eating. These were rare, nourishing fruits that promised lasting health. Moreover, there was an abundance of them. The monkeys knew all this.

So the monkey and his companions set about cutting down the tree. When it crashed to the ground, every fruit tumbled down with it, and they all eagerly devoured their fill. But when the feast was finished, they noticed something that made their hearts sink: the branches still bore countless fruit buds. The tree, had they spared it, would have yielded far more. Yet in their haste to fell it, this possibility had never crossed their minds.

When the tree fell, the clever monkey's hand was trapped beneath it. The pain was excruciating, and the hand was rendered useless. The physical wound dealt him a crushing blow, but the mental anguish was far worse. Now it pained him greatly to climb other trees, to search swiftly from branch to branch for food, to leap and play with his companions. His missing hand made everything a torment.

His troop no longer sought him out. No one praised his cleverness anymore. He became utterly alone, and his mind began to crumble under the weight. He understood his mistake at last—but by then, it was far too late. There was nothing left for him to do.