[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

mother,  Where is my father? She told him,  He is king of a band of
monkeys living at the foot of a far-off mountain. That makes you a prince!
The prince of monkeys said,  Kindly take me to my father. His mother
said,  No my son, I am afraid to do so. Your father bites all his sons in order
to weaken them for life. He is afraid one of his sons will replace him as
king. The prince said,  Don t be afraid for me, mother. I can take care of
myself. This gave her confidence, so she agreed and took him to his father.
When the cruel old king saw his strong young son, he thought.  I have no
doubt that when this my son grows stronger he will steal my kingdom from
me. Therefore I must kill him while I still can! I will hug him, pretending it
is out of love for him. But really I will squeeze him to death!
The king welcomed his son, saying,  Ah, my long lost son! Where have
you been all this time? I have missed you dearly. Then he took him in his
arms and hugged him. He kept squeezing harder and harder, trying to
squeeze the life out of him! But the prince of monkeys was as strong as an
elephant. He hugged his father right back. He squeezed him tighter and
tighter, until he could feel the old king s rib bones starting to crack!
After this terrible greeting, the monkey king was even more terrified that one
day his son would kill him. He thought,  Nearby there is a pond possessed
by a water demon. It would be easy to get him to eat my son. Then my
problems would be over!
48
The monkey king said,  Oh my dear son, now is the perfect time for you to
come home. For I am old and I would like to hand over my band of
monkeys to you. But I need flowers for the coronation ceremony. Go to the
nearby pond and bring back two kinds of white water lilies, three kinds of
blue water lilies and five types of lotuses.
The prince of monkeys said,  Yes my father, I will go and get them.
When he arrived at the pond, he saw that there were many kinds of water
lilies and lotuses growing all over it. But instead of jumping right in and
picking them, he investigated carefully. He walked slowly along the bank.
He noticed there were footprints going into the pond, but none coming out!
After considering, he realised this was a sure sign the pond was possessed
by a water demon. He also realised his father must have sent him there to be
killed.
He investigated further, until he found a narrow part of the pond. There,
with great effort, he was able to jump from one side clear across to the other.
In the midst of his leap he reached down and picked flowers, without
actually getting into the water. Then he jumped back again, picking more
flowers. He continued jumping back and forth, collecting lots of flowers.
Suddenly the water demon stuck his head up above the water. He
exclaimed,  In all the time I ve lived here I have never seen anyone, man or
beast, as wise as this monkey! He has picked all the flowers he wanted,
without ever coming within the grasp of my power, here in my kingdom of
water.
Then the ferocious demon made a path for himself through the water and
came up onto the bank. He said,  My lord, king of monkeys, there are three
qualities that make a person unbeatable by his enemies. It appears that you
have all three  skill, courage and wisdom. You must be truly invincible!
Tell me, mighty one, why have you collected all those flowers?
The prince of monkeys replied,  My father wants to make me king in his
place. He sent me to gather these flowers for the coronation ceremony.
The water demon said,  You are too noble to be burdened by carrying these
flowers. Let me carry them for you. He picked up all the flowers and
followed him.
From a distance, the monkey king saw the water demon carrying the flowers
and following the prince. He thought,  I sent him to get flowers, thinking he
49
would be eaten by the demon. But instead he has made the water demon his
servant. I am lost!
The monkey king was afraid all his unwholesome deeds had caught up with
him. He went into a sudden panic, which caused his heart to break into
seven pieces. Of course this killed him on the spot!
The monkey band voted to make the strong young prince the new king.
The moral is: It pays to be careful.
50
Tale 59, 60  Two Ways of Beating a Drum
[Excess]
Once upon a time there was a drummer living in a small country village. He
heard there was going to be a fair in the city of Benares. So he decided to go
there and earn some money by playing his drums. He took his son along to
accompany him when playing music written for two sets of drums.
The two drummers, father and son, went to Benares Fair. They were very [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]