THE PENNY-WISE MONKEY

: More Jataka Tales

Once upon a time the king of a large and rich country gathered

together his army to take a faraway little country. The king and his

soldiers marched all morning long and then went into camp in the

forest.



When they fed the horses they gave them some peas to eat. One of the

Monkeys living in the forest saw the peas and jumped down to get some

of them. He filled his mouth and hands with them, and up into th tree

he went again, and sat down to eat the peas.



As he sat there eating the peas, one pea fell from his hand to the

ground. At once the greedy Monkey dropped all the peas he had in his

hands, and ran down to hunt for the lost pea. But he could not find

that one pea. He climbed up into his tree again, and sat still looking

very glum. "To get more, I threw away what I had," he said to himself.



The king had watched the Monkey, and he said to himself: "I will not

be like this foolish Monkey, who lost much to gain a little. I will go

back to my own country and enjoy what I now have."



So he and his men marched back home.