Panchatantra Series: Monkey & Wedge

Panchatantra stories are the oldest surviving fables from Ancient India used as bedtime stories for kids for centuries all over the world. Hope you like these stories for all ages. Enjoy and have a restful sleep, walk, or rest.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Amita and welcome back to the series of Panchatantra short stories.

So Panchatantra stories are the oldest surviving fables from ancient India.

These are spread all over the world for centuries,

Especially as bedtime stories for kids.

So I am starting this Panchatantra series of 60 stories.

Hope you like it.

Today's story is Monkey and the Wedge.

There was once a merchant who employed many carpenters and masons to build a temple in his garden.

Regularly they would start work in the morning and take a break from the midday meals and return to resume work till evening.

One day,

A group of monkeys arrived at the site of the building and watched the workers leaving their midday meals.

One of the carpenters was sawing a huge log of wood.

Since it was only half done,

He placed a wedge in between to prevent the log from closing up.

He then went off along with other workers for his meal.

When all the workers were gone,

The monkeys came down from the trees and started jumping around the site and playing with the instruments.

There was this one particular monkey who got very curious about the wedge that was placed between the logs.

He sat down on the log and having placed himself in between the half split log,

Whoops,

Got hold of the wedge as it started pulling at it.

All of a sudden the wedge came out and as a result,

The half split log closed in and the monkey got caught in the gap of the log.

As was his destiny,

He was severely wounded.

The wise indeed say,

One who interferes in others work,

Surely comes to grief.