The Mischievous Monkey

At another time, The Bodhisattva came to the earth as a hermit. He lived in a leaf hut on a mountain and went every day to the village to seek alms. A monkey would enter the hermit’s hut when he would be away and eat all the food and make all sorts of mischief. One day, the hermit went out as usual to seek alms, but did not return for many days. The monkey came to the hermit’s hut every day but found nothing to eat. So he went to the village to look for the hermit.

The villagers had just performed puja and were about to offer the prasad to the hermit. “Let me also pretend to be holy and trick these villagers into giving me some food,” the monkey thought. He went up to the hermit and sat near him, joining his forelegs as if he were praying. The villagers were pleased to see such devotion in a monkey and praised him highly. But the hermit recognized the mischievous monkey and told the villagers how the monkey troubled him every day. The angry villagers beat up the monkey and chased him away.

The author of this story is unknown and greatly appreciated!