The Story of the Monkey and the Wooden Post
Long ago, a temple was being built a short distance from the town. The construction used timber, and several workers had come from the town to do the carpentry. One day, while the workers were sawing wood, they all went to the town for lunch, as was their custom. One worker had only half-finished his piece of wood. To make it easier to return to the task, he wedged a wooden post into the cut timber.
Shortly after the workers left, a troop of monkeys arrived. One mischievous monkey among them started to playfully upset and rearrange the objects lying around. The troop leader tried to stop them from doing this. As the other monkeys began heading back towards the trees, the mischievous monkey stayed behind, continuing his antics. His eyes fell upon the half-cut piece of wood with the wooden post embedded in it. He wondered why the post was there and what would happen if he removed it. He then began to pull at the post.
The post, under the monkey's persistent pulling, started to shift and wiggle. The monkey, delighted, pulled harder, completely absorbed in the task. He didn't notice when his tail got caught between the two halves of the wood. With all his strength, he pulled the post out. As soon as the post was removed, the two pieces of wood snapped together, trapping his tail in the middle. The monkey cried out in pain. Just then, the workers returned. Seeing them, the monkey tried to run, but his tail broke off. Screaming, he ran back to his troop. Upon seeing his severed tail, the other monkeys began to laugh.
The moral of this story is: We should not interfere with others' work or meddle with their belongings, for it is often self-destructive.
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