The Obtuse Monkeys

Once upon a time a tribe of monkeys lived
happily in the pleasure-garden of the king of Banaras
The king's gardener looked upon them as his friends
and they, in their turn, were devoted to him.
Now one day a great festival was to take place
in the city. The festive drum sounded early in the
morning, and the townsfolk turned out in thousands
to keep holiday. The king's gardener felt a craving
to join the festivites.

He thought to himself: "Why should I not have a holiday once hi a while? After
all, there is very little to do hi the park. Only a few
young saplings have to be watered. Surely my friends
the monkeys, can do that much for me
So he went to the leader of the monkeys and
said, "My friend, you know that this park has to
be well looked after. His Majesty and/ his subjects
enjoy many benefits from it. Today there is holiday
making in the city and I desire to take the day off
At the same time I cannot neglect the park. As you
know, young plants have got to be watered everyday.
Couldn't you do the job for me, just for today? The
leader of the monkeys said 'Oh yes, brother. We shall
look after your plants.

Go and make merry to your heart's content
Thank you,' said the gardener, "but see that you
do not let me down.' and them, after supplying the
monkeyswith waterskins and wooden buckets, he
went off to the city The monkeys immediately started their work of
watering the young plants. Their leader instructed
them in this way: "Friends, remember that we have
only a limited amount of water.

We must not waste it, because if it is finished before the work is done
we shall find it difficult to their requirements. So
it would be better if you pull out each young plant
and examine the size of its roots. Then you can give
plenty of water to those which have big and long
roots. On the contrary, small quantity of water will
do for plants with tiny roots.'
"You are quite right, Sir," said the other monkeys,
and did as their leader told them. They pulled out
all the young plants in the garden and watered them
according to the size of then- roots.
Thus, with every desire to do good, the faithful
monkeys did great harm to their friend, gardener, to
the king, and to all those who enjoyed the benefits
of the pleasure garden.

Photo By Internet!!