The Monkey and the Goose

The Monkey and the Goose

     In the middle of a jungle clearing sat a monkey reading the morning newspaper. She did not even notice a

wild goose approaching her.

     "What's new in the world?" asked the newcomer.

     The monkey lowered the paper. When she saw the goose, she said disdainfully:

     "What? Nothing for you! You don't understand such things!"

     Then she continued reading.

     The words hurt the goose. She nodded her head and waddled away.

     A week passed.

     As usual, the goose was walking along a narrow path when she heard someone crying:

     "Help me, please, someone! Help!"

     The goose followed the weeping voice. After a moment, she came to the edge of a deep pit. At the

bottom, she saw the monkey—the very one she had met recently in the clearing.

     "Oh dear, oh woe," sobbed the monkey.

     "How did this happen to you?" asked the goose.

     "People covered the pit with thin branches and leaves. I, unfortunate, fell into it. This is my end! Soon

hunters will come and kill me."

     The goose thought for a moment and then said:

     "I will rescue you!"

     "You? You don't have enough strength to pull me out of here," replied the monkey helplessly.

     Exhausted by fatigue, hunger, and thirst, the monkey gave in to despair. She resignedly accepted her

poor fate.

     The goose did not wait. She acted quickly and decisively. She grabbed sticks, stones, and parts of

branches nearby in her beak and threw them into the pit. It did not take long before the monkey was able to

reach the edge. She was immediately freed. Before the goose could recover, the monkey disappeared into

the jungle. She did not even thank the goose for the rescue. But the goose did not mind. She was glad to

have saved a precious life.

     The monkey's nerves soon calmed.

     That very day, she lay in the shade under a tree and reflected:

     "Why did such an unfortunate event happen to me and not to the simple-minded goose? It is an injustice

in the world! Fools simply are always lucky!"

     Translated into English by artificial intelligence.

     Published:  https://firesnake.eu