The Foolish Friend

A certain king had a pet monkey, and he loved it dearly. The monkey was loyal and devoted, and went everywhere with the king, and the king trusted it completely, even gave it a little sword to wear, and made it his personal guard. The trouble was, the monkey, for all its devotion, was really not very clever at all.

One warm afternoon the king lay down for a nap, and the faithful monkey sat beside him to keep watch, gently waving a fan to keep his beloved master cool and comfortable.

Now, a bee came drifting in through the window, drawn by the scent of the flowers in the king’s hair, and it settled right on the tip of the sleeping king’s nose.

The monkey waved its fan at the bee. The bee lifted off, buzzed about, and settled straight back on the king’s nose. The monkey shooed it again. Again it came back. Once more, and once more, until the devoted little monkey was beside itself with fury. How dare this bee keep pestering his precious sleeping king!

“That is quite enough from you!” thought the monkey. And in its loyal, foolish rage, it drew the little sword from its belt, took careful aim at the bee perched there on the royal nose, and brought the blade down with all its might to put an end to the wretched insect once and for all.

You can guess how that turned out. The bee, of course, simply flew away unharmed. The king did not fare nearly so well.

He woke with a start and a yelp, nursing a very sore nose indeed, and looked at his devoted little guard in dismay. The monkey had loved him with its whole heart. It had meant nothing in the world but to protect him. And it had done him more harm in one moment than any enemy had managed in years.