THE PEDLAR AND THE MONKEYS

   

 Hello children,

    The story that I am going to tell you was told to me by my Aunt Khatija. This story is based in China. It is a beautiful story of a pedlar who was selling hats. This story shows that if you really and truly want something you can always get it by using your brains. The pedlar was stuck but he found a way to get his hats back.

    Read on and find out he did it.

THE PEDLAR AND THE MONKEYS

    Once upon a time there was a pedlar in China, who sold all sorts of hats and caps. There were small ones and there were big ones. There were red ones and there were orange ones. There were blue ones and there were green ones. They were with wide brims and they were with narrow brims.

    Now, in the olden times people used to travel by foot, because there were no cars or buses. So, this particular pedlar put all his hats and caps in a big basket of can and carried it on his head. He travelled from one village to another by foot. At nightfall he would just lie down on the ground and sleep and then in the morning, he would continue with his journey.

    One hot sunny day, he had travelled a long way and by sundown, he was very tired. So when he came to a jungle he sat down under a tree to rest and before he knew it he was fast asleep. He hadn’t had the time to lie down on the ground. The poor pedlar was so tired! He slept like a log until morning. Now, what do you think happened in the morning? When the pedlar woke up he got the shock of his life! There wasn’t even one hat or cap to be seen in the basket!

    The pedlar looked everywhere to see if he could find any one of his hats. It was all in vain. Soon he got tired of searching and went and sat down under a tree worrying as to what he would do now that he didn’t have even one hat to sell. How would he survive? What would he eat?

    Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound in the tree under which he was sitting. He looked up to see what it was and what do you think it was? Up in the tree under which he was sitting and in all the trees around there were dozens of monkeys and they were all wearing his hats and caps! The pedlar could not believe his eyes! He rubbed them hard to make sure he was not dreaming. When he opened them again he saw the same sight.

    At first, the poor pedlar just stood and stared and the monkeys stared back at him. Then, he waved his fists at the monkeys and they waved back at him. Then, he began to shout and beckon them to give him back his hats and caps. In return, the monkeys began to chatter and beckon in the same manner. Then, he began to throw stones at them to make them give back his things, but the naughty monkeys began to throw fruits and coconuts from the trees at the poor pedlar. That hurt him very much, so he ran and hid behind a tree. As soon as the monkeys saw him do that, they too, hid themselves!

    The pedlar was at the end of his tether! He did not know what to do. Suddenly, he had an idea! If the monkeys were copying all that he was doing, wouldn’t they throw their hats and caps if he threw his on the ground?

    So he took his cap that he was wearing and threw it on the ground. As soon as the monkeys saw him do that, they took their hats and caps and threw them on the ground. When he saw this, he quickly collected all his hats and caps and went on his way as fast as he could, happy at being able to retrieve them and vowing never to sleep in that part of the jungle ever again!