The royal minister who was the Bodhisattva in his previous birth decided to solve the mystery of the missing necklace. He thought, ‘The necklace was lost in the royal garden. Its gates were guarded. No one from outside could have stolen it. Also, the garden is full of monkeys.’ So, he went to the king and asked permission to put all the suspects in a room. Then, he asked his assistants, “Listen carefully to what the five suspects talk among themselves.” Soon, the assistants reported back, “Sir, none of them has the necklace. They all blamed the other person to free themselves.” The assistants then captured several she monkeys and put imitation ornaments around their necks. The she-monkey who had stolen the necklace saw the others in beautiful ornaments. So, it too wore the queen’s precious necklace. The assistants scared it into dropping the necklace and returned the necklace to the queen.
Moral: Greed leads to theft, fear to lies and examination to truth.
