The Foolish Monkey and The King

Once upon a time a very powerful king decided he wanted to take over the smaller kingdom that lay just on the other side of the river and through the woods from his. He gathered an army, and trained them for the day they would ruin that small kingdom. Day and night for months the soldiers got bigger and stronger and then the day came that they were ready.

The king and his army woke early that morning and marched all day to get near the kingdom, and then set up a campsite for the night in a dark part of the forest.

They rested for the big day ahead of them. As they fed their horses peas in the morning, the king noticed a small monkey watching from a nearby tree branch. He held his gaze as the monkey jumped down from the tree and scooped up some peas for himself. The monkey swiftly returned to his branch and began eating the peas, enjoying each one.

Suddenly, with the king still watching, the monkey dropped a single pea and watched it fall to the dirt beneath him. He sat for a moment, and then quickly jumped to the ground spilling all of the remaining peas that he had in his hand. Try as he might, the greedy monkey could not find that darned pea.

The frustrated monkey returned to his branch and sat reflecting on his actions. He let his greed control him, and instead of letting that one small insignificant pea go, he lost everything he had trying to get it.

Meanwhile, the king sat, still observing the monkey.

“We are ready for battle, Your Majesty”, said one of the king’s most valuable soldiers.

“We will no longer be taking over this kingdom. Pack your things and we will march back immediately”, the king responded quickly.

The army was confused and frustrated at the king’s commands, but no one dared to question the wishes of their ruler. So, the soldiers packed their things and waited for further instruction from the king.

The king remained pondering over what he had seen with the money. Then he said to himself, “I do not want to be like this foolish monkey. He gave much to gain a little, and lost everything in the end. I will take my army and return to my kingdom, and I will be grateful for all that I have right now. Greed will not guide my actions.”

So, the king and his men marched back to their kingdom and life resumed as it had before.

From that point on, the king no longer pursued the ruining of other kingdoms. He stayed in the bounds of his own land, and enjoyed all the riches and relationships and property that he had. He never took anything for granted as he had before.

To this day, the king still remembers that foolish monkey, and the valuable lesson that it taught him. He will never forget that monkey.

Monkey In A Tree. Image Source: Clipartfest.

Author's Note

This is an adaptation of the story from More Jataka Tales called The Penny-Wise Monkey. I kept a lot of the story the same. I mostly added a lot of details and depth into what happened throughout the plot. There isn't as much dialogue in the original as mine, but I feel that it adds an interesting and intriguing twist to it that I included conversation between the king and his men even though it is brief.  I made the army more a part of the story and gave them more meaning than the original. I also added on to the end. In the original, the story ends with the king deciding that he would go back home and be thankful for what he had. In my version, I carried on to talk about how he would always remember what the penny-wise monkey taught him in that forest. I did this to sort of emphasize the importance of what the king learned that day in the forest. I chose this picture because it is generic, and readers can imagine a painted picture of the scenes for themselves. Please let me know what I can do to make this story better!

Bibliography

More Jataka Tales. Link to reading.

Author: Ellen C. Babbitt.