The King and the Foolish Monkey

Panchtantra Stories

The King and the Foolish MonkeyOnce, a king had a pet monkey. The pet monkey served the king in whatever ways he could and had all the freedom in the royal household. One hot day, the monkey was fanning and guarding the king while he was asleep. He then noticed a fly on the king's chest. Every time the monkey shooed it away, the fly would go away for the moment, only to return back on the king's chest. The monkey could take it no longer and decided to teach the fly a lesson. He looked for a dagger to kill it and when he found it brought it down with all force on the fly. The fly flew away but the king died as result of the dagger blow delivered by the monkey.  Karataka said, "Therefore, the lesson is that a king who cares for his life should not have a fool as his servant.’ He went on to relate a second story to show how shrewd people save the lives of others.