The Dancing Monkeys

: Aesop's Fables

A PRINCE had some Monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally

great mimics of men's actions, they showed themselves most apt

pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and masks, they

danced as well as any of the courtiers. The spectacle was often

repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier,

bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and

threw them upon the stage. The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts

forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) Monkeys

instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their

robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing

spectacle thus came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of

the audience.



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