Reading Notes, More Jataka Tales: The Penny-Wise Monkey

Monkey in the tree

(Source: Wikipedia Commons)

There was once a wealthy and powerful king that gathered all of his army to trek to another country that was far away. He planned on attacking teh country and conquering it. The king and his soldiers marched all day and then settled down to camp when the sun began to set. When they had to feed their horses, they gave them some pees to eat and a monkey saw this happening so he jumped down to get some of the peas. He shoved as many as he could into his mouth and hands and ran up to hide in a trees. As he sat there munching on the peas, one fell out of his mouth and onto the ground. As he went to grab it, he accidentally dropped all of the peas in his hands. The monkey started to cry because he realized that he lost all of what he had just because he was being so greedy that he didn't want to lose one pea. The king saw this happened to the Monkey and he realized that he also shouldn't sacrifice all that he has just to gain such little and decided not to try to conquer this little country. He commanded his soldiers to turn back and return home.

More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. The Penny-Wise Monkey.