In a town far away, a rich merchant decided to build a temple. He got beautiful plans made. Then he brought skilled workers from all over the land to do the work of building the temple. There were masons and stone cutters, sculptors and carpenters.
The whole area hummed with people and their work. Everyone was busy. None wished to be disturbed. But there was a disturbance.
Some monkeys strayed out of the forest near by. They heard all the noise. And they became very curious. They thought they would get something to eat there.
The workers and the craftsmen tried to shoo them away. But those monkeys were very naughty. Sometimes they stole food from the workers. They would scamper away for a while. They would sit on the stones or on the branches of trees near the temple. They would sit there and eat the food or make faces at the workers, teasing them.
Everyone was fed up of the troop of monkeys who came regularly and made it difficult for them to work in peace. So, the workers got some fire crackers. When the monkeys arrived, the workers set off the crackers to frighten them. The monkeys jumped and scurried around and leapt up onto the trees.
After a few days of this treatment, the monkeys were so worried that they decided to go back to their forest. That was much safer! There were no startling sounds and sparks! From the next day onwards, there were no more monkeys on the site.
The workers heaved a sigh of relief and got on with their duties. Soon it was noon. The workers laid down their tools and washed up to have their lunch.
One of the carpenters had been cutting a log of wood. He was using an axe and a saw. But by lunchtime the work had not been completed. He took a wedge of wood and drove it into the cut in the log. Then he joined the others at lunch.
One monkey, more inquisitive and more foolish than the others, decided to have a look around the site. No one was watching or bursting crackers. This seemed a fine time to have a look. He picked up tools and stones and played with them. Then he saw the log.
He wondered what it was and jumped on to it. There, he saw the wedge and pulled it. It wouldn’t come out. So, he tried again and again. Finally, he put his legs against the log and pulled really hard. Whoosh! Out came the wedge. But in its place the monkey’s legs were caught tight in the crack! The poor monkey howled with pain and died with his legs crushed in the log.
