Loss Of friend

THE BIRDS AND THE MONKEYS

Upon a mountain slope, cold and steep, a g**g of monkeys had made their home. It became very cold in the winters and also rained heavily. The monkeys, unused to such cold, looked around for something with which to keep themselves warm. They saw some red berries growing on the mountain slope. They collected as many berries as they could and, thinking they held fire in their hands, blew into them.

A bird watched their foolish effort in amusement. 'You fools!' he said. "These are red berries. You can only eat them. They cannot keep you warm at all. Stop wasting your time and effort and look for some kind of shelter. A cave or any covered place would be good for you. It is going to rain again. Look at the clouds and hear the wind blow!'

An old monkey angrily shouted at the bird, 'Why are you so interested in what we do? Stop interfering and go away. Our wise elders have said that he who really cares for his own welfare should not talk to an inefficient worker or a gambler. Only a fool talks to a fool or one who seeks pleasure.'

The bird did not pay much attention to the old monkey's anger. He didn't give any chance to the other monkeys to talk. The bird went on and on advising them to seek shelter elsewhere.

One of the monkeys got very tired of listening to the bird's unwanted advice and pounced on him. He banged the bird's head on the rock and kept on banging it till he was dead.

'If you advise a fool, it will anger him instead of pacifying him, Karataka said at the end of the story. It is like feeding milk to a snake. Its poison will increase. That's why advice should not be offered to everyone.'