Week 15 Story
Human and Monkey Kings
There was once a colony of monkeys that lived in one big tree in the center of a certain forest. They spent their days leaping from limb to limb of the big tree, and sometimes they were able to find a branch that was close enough on another tree to explore further into the forest. Their tree was full of delicious fruit of all kinds so they didn’t really want to venture outside of their home tree for any reasons other than to have a little fun. The King of these monkeys was a kind and benevolent King, and he spent his days helping the other monkeys. He settled disputes over extra good pieces of fruit, taught the young monkeys good techniques for aiming and landing at branches when they jumped from limb to limb, and consoled any sad monkeys until they felt better.
Sometimes travelers stopped beneath the tree to pick up fruit, as the tree had an abundance there was always leftover fruit that fell from the tree tops to the forest floor. The monkeys were more than glad to share, as the King told them that if a traveler was able to share in the delight of the trees bounty then that was good for everyone.
A nearby human King decided to go out on an expedition with his troops into the forest, as it was very large, and he was a very curious King. He happened to be quite young for a sovereign, and was always leading his personal unit out on expeditions like this. He was also known for being quite a kind young man- if not rather inexperienced at leadership. Many in the court suspected he spent so much time out in the forest with his men because it meant less days at court making formal small talk and passing verdicts and that sort of thing. There may have been a little bit of truth to these rumors, but in spite of his shyness he had always been able to pull of the right decisions for the people of his kingdom.
They marched and marched through the forest. A young monkey who had been exploring the treetops saw them, and watched from a distance, curiously. He had never seen a group of people of this size- and assumed that they only traveled in groups of 3 or less as the travelers that usually passed through the forest were either alone or accompanied by few companions. He also had never seen men ride horses,
How do they persuade the horses to let them stay atop their backs? They must be very clever.
He watched them for an evening, and was eventually bored by their strange garb. Their bizzarre way of treating the one in the fanciest metal plating also lost its luster by evening.
He sighed, and thought to himself
I’m getting hungry, and my family must be wondering where I am by now.
Back to the home tree he went, bounding from branch to branch he made it back in no time and told the other monkeys all about his sighting. The Human King had seen the monkey as he scurried away and followed him from a distance and saw the plentiful fruit surrounding the base of the tree. He lead his men back there and they gorged themselves on as much fruit as they could eat. The monkeys watched from above, amazed by the strange men they were watching. Even the King of the monkeys was intrigued.
The greedy human men began to stare at the monkeys and get hungrier. They began to complain that they wanted more to eat. The King of the monkeys grew wary. The human men fired an arrow into the branches, setting of a mass exodus of monkeys from their home tree. The weak monkeys were left at the edges, and the King Monkey could not carry them all, though he tried. He decided that if they all could just escape, it would be worth his own life. The King Monkey stretched his arms and fell forward, grasping branch of one of the other trees, making a bridge of his own body. The monkeys streamed across, all escaping freely. The men began to all get up to chase them.
The Human King was disgusted by their actions and finally felt emboldened by the actions of the King Monkey. He screamed at his troops to stop and shamed them for their greed. They immediately left the area of the home tree, and never returned- strict orders of the Human King. When they returned to the Kingdom he had found his voice and ruled firmly for the rest of his days.
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