The Stupid Monkey愚蠢的猴子

劉明利

The King received news one day that a group outlaws were committing outrages on a distant border of the kingdom.

The news angered of the King. He quickly gathered his army and started off for the distant border， leaving his kingdom unguarded and without a ruler.

On their long march， the King and his army made camp for the night wherever they could.

One rainy day they stopped in a forest， seeking shelter under the trees.

They unsaddled their horses and steamed some peas， which they fed to their steeds in long narrow troughs.

A monkey in a tree nearby saw the horses being fed， and he came racing down， filled both paws with peas， then scampered nimbly up to a branch and settled down to eat.

But as he opened one paw， a single pea fell to the ground.

Without hesitation， the monkey jumped down from his perch to hunt for the lost pea， and in doing so he dropped all the other peas in his paws.

The King observed this foolish monkey and was greatly amused. He turned to his counselor and asked： “Friend， what do you think of this monkey who would give up so much to retrieve so little？”

“That is the way of the foolish，” replied the counselor， “they will give up much that is certain for a little that is uncertain.”

Then he added， “And we， great monarch， are we not like the monkey in the trees？To receive so little we neglect so much exactly like the monkey with its pea. ”

The King understood the rebuke and realized how foolish he had been himself to leave his kingdom unguarded.

He issued orders to his men， and he and his army returned at once to their country.

一天，國王得到消息，邊境地區(qū)有一群不法之徒正在造反。

這個消息激怒了國王，他迅速召集軍隊，前往邊境。國家的防衛(wèi)兵力頓時全無，也沒有了統(tǒng)治者。

長途行軍中，國王和他的軍隊晚上就地宿營。

一個雨天，他們停在一片森林里，在樹下避雨宿營。

他們卸下馬鞍，蒸了些豌豆，放在狹長的飼料糟里喂戰(zhàn)馬。

在附近一棵樹上坐著一只猴子看到馬在進食，就從樹上跳下來， 用爪子抓起兩大把豌豆，然后敏捷地爬上樹，坐下吃了起來。

可就在它張開一只爪子時，一粒豌豆掉在了地上。

它毫不猶豫地跳下來， 去找那顆掉落的豆子，而同時，它爪子中所有的豌豆都掉在了地上。

國王看著這只愚蠢的猴子，覺得十分有趣，便轉頭問軍師：“朋友，你怎么看這只因小失大的猴子？”

“這種做事方式很愚蠢，”軍師回答道，“它們會為沒有把握的小利而放棄有把握的大利?！?/p>

接著，他又說道：“偉大的君主殿下，我們與樹上的這只猴子又有什么區(qū)別呢？為小利而舍大利——這與撿豌豆的猴子一樣啊。”

國王這才恍然大悟，他意識到讓他的國家后防空虛是多么愚蠢啊。

于是，他向軍隊下達命令，即刻班師回朝。