The Monkey and the Peas

The King of Benares faced a robbery in his kingdom and had sent his army to catch the thieves. The soldiers camped in the royal garden for the night to rest. They fed their horses with boiled peas.

A Monkey, living in the trees nearby, watched the horses eating. He was very hungry. “Those peas look delicious,” he thought. “And they smell so good!”

When the soldiers weren’t looking, the Monkey quietly climbed down from the tree. He crept up to the feeding trough. He quickly grabbed a huge handful of peas with both hands. His mouth was watering.

“I have enough for a feast!” he thought happily. He turned around and scampered back up the tree to eat his prize in safety.

He sat on a sturdy branch and opened his hands to eat. But as he settled down, one single green pea slipped from his fingers. Plop. It fell from the branch and landed in the tall grass below.

The Monkey watched it fall. “My pea!” he cried. “My precious pea!”

He looked at the pile of peas still in his hands. There were dozens of them. A wise animal would have eaten the peas he had. But this monkey was greedy. He could not bear the thought of losing even one tiny pea.

“I must get it back!” he decided.

Without thinking, he opened his hands to climb down. Scatter! As he moved to jump, all the peas in his hands spilled out. They rained down onto the dirty ground, rolling under bushes and into the mud.

The Monkey ignored them. He jumped down to the spot where the first pea had fallen. He searched frantically in the grass. He moved stones. He dug in the dirt. “Where is it? Where is it?”

But it was no use. The tiny green pea was lost forever in the green grass.

Tired and disappointed, the Monkey looked around for the other peas he had dropped. But the horses had already eaten most of them, and chickens had pecked up the rest.

The Monkey climbed back up the tree, empty-handed, hungry, and sad. He had lost everything because he wanted too much.

The King, who had been watching from his balcony, laughed. “Look at that foolish creature,” he told his ministers. “He let go of a handful of certain treasure just to chase a tiny bit of uncertain gain.”

Moral of the Story: Do not risk everything you have for a tiny gain. Greed makes you lose what you already possess.