The Monkeys & The Vegetable Seller

By 29/04/2019October 19th, 2020Vedanta

A Story of The Monkeys And The Vegetable Seller

Not so long ago, there was a vegetable seller. He lived a peaceful life in a small village where he grew fresh and healthy vegetables along with his father and sold them to make a decent living. Many years passed by, he was now married and had a little son too. To support his bigger family and expand his business, he decided to sell his vegetables in the nearby city. But to do so, he had to travel through a dense jungle which was home to many animals. And amongst the animals, there were some very cunning and smart monkeys too!

Thus, one auspicious day, the vegetable seller, set forth to the city through the jungle on foot, carrying on his head, his precious vegetables placed within a big vegetable basket. After walking a few miles, he realized that his basket was now a bit lighter in weight. Wondering why it felt so, he paused and put down the basket, only to find that some of his veggies were missing. He started looking around in shock and despair.

Then suddenly, he looked up at the trees surrounding him and found a troop of monkeys jumping around with his vegetables. He realized that as he was walked along the path, those monkeys sneaked down on the lower branches and stole the vegetables from his basket. But, not knowing what to do, he helplessly crossed the jungle and returned home. This went on for the next few days and he grew more frustrated and depressed with such repeated incidents.

One day, the vegetable seller’s aged father noticed his son returning with a sad look on his face. With concern, he asked him what the matter was, and the son replied, “I’m helpless, every day those monkeys in the jungle steal most of the vegetables and I have to bear the loss.” His father laughed and said, “Son, do you remember the lessons I had taught you, when you were a kid? Remember that monkeys always copy your actions, if you throw a stone at them, they will swing back at you with whatever they hold”. And the vegetable seller got his point. The next day, he set out through the jungle with a smile on his face and a plan in his brain. As usual, the monkeys followed him and quickly grabbed the veggies, swinging  from the low hung branches. The moment he realized his basket is losing weight, he stopped and looked up in the trees. He quickly collected a few stones and started aiming them at those monkeys. And just as planned, the monkeys swung back at him with his fresh veggies.

Now that the vegetable seller was earning well, he decided to enroll his growing child in a reputed city school. But his little son was not so keen. Not because he had any problems with the school or studies, but because he didn’t want to go through the jungle, listening to all those monkey stories by his father and grandfather. When the vegetable seller finally confronted his little boy, he said, “I don’t want to go to school through that jungle, what if those monkeys steal all my things?”. The seller, passed on the lessons learnt, just as he had from his father. He patiently explained the same strategy saying, “If monkeys take your things, you simply throw stones on them and they will throw your belongings back to you”! The little boy now curious and excited decided to test this trick.

The next morning, he packed his school bag, picked his tiffin box and with a water bottle, he started towards the jungle. He immediately noticed a troop of small monkeys following him but scared of getting hurt, he dropped his lunchbox and hid behind a tree. After gathering some courage, he peaked from a distance and saw the monkeys sitting on another tree unpacking his lunch box. But he really wanted to try the trick he learned from his father. Hence, he walked up close to the other tree, with some stones in his hand and started throwing them randomly with all his strength. But, to his surprise, the monkeys didn’t bother and continued to fiddle with his lunchbox. Again, he picked up bigger stones and started throwing at them, left and right, with fury. The monkeys, now dodging the stones, started mocking him and laughing at him. The little boy was completely confused. And as he was about to leave in despair, a little monkey from the troop jump down to the lower branches towards the boy as it munched on his lunch and with a smile on his face ~ said,

“Hey Boy, do you think, you are the only one, who has a father?”

 

 

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