The Stupid Monkeys

Once on a time when Brahmadatta was king of
Benares, a festival was proclaimed in the city; and at
the first summoning notes of the festal drum out poured
the townsfolk to keep holiday.

Now in those days, a tribe of monkeys was living in
the king's pleasaunce; and the king's gardener thought
to himself, "They're holiday-making up in the city. I'll
get the monkeys to do the watering for me, and be off
to enjoy myself with the rest." So saying, he went to the
king of the monkeys, and, first dwelling on the benefits
his majesty and his subjects enjoyed from residence in
the pleasaunce in the way of flowers and fruit and
young shoots to eat, ended by saying, "To-day there's
holiday-making up in the city, and I'm off to enjoy
myself. Couldn't you water the young trees while I'm
away ? "

"Oh! yes," said the monkey.

"Only mind you do," said the gardener; and off he
went, giving the monkeys the water-skins and wooden
watering-pots to do the work with.

Then the monkeys took the water-skins and watering-
pots, and fell to watering the young trees. " But we must
mind not to waste the water," observed their king; "as
you water, first pull each young tree up and look at the
size of its roots. Then give plenty of water to those whose
roots strike deep, but only a little to those with tiny roots.
When this water is all gone, we shall be hard put to it to
get more."

" To be sure," said the other monkeys, and did as he
bade them.

At this juncture a certain wise man, seeing the monkeys
thus engaged, asked them why they pulled up tree after
tree and watered them according to the size of their
roots.

"Because such are our king's commands," answered
the monkeys.

Their reply moved the wise man to reflect how, with
every desire to do good, the ignorant and foolish only
succeed in doing harm. And he recited this stanza:

'Tis knowledge crowns endeavour with success,
For fools are thwarted by their foolishness,
Witness the ape that killed the garden trees.

With this rebuke to the king of the monkeys, the wise
man departed with his followers from the pleasaunce.