The Tale of the Meddling Monkey

Once upon a time, in a lush grove on the outskirts of a bustling city, a beautiful temple was being built. Every day, the place buzzed with the sound of saws cutting through timber and the cheerful chatter of the workers.

As midday approached and the sun climbed to its zenith, the workers would pack away their tools and head to the city to enjoy a well-deserved lunch, leaving behind the half-constructed temple and the timber logs.

One sunny afternoon, a troop of monkeys descended upon the temple site. They leaped from log to log, their playful antics filling the grove with life. !moneys_descending](./img/img3.png)

Among them was a particularly meddlesome monkey, known among his troop for his curiosity and love of mischief. On this day, his attention was drawn to a huge log, different from the rest.

A wedge was firmly placed in the log’s cleft, left there by a mechanic to hold it open as he sawed. The meddling monkey, driven by an urge to explore, climbed onto the log, straddling it with eager hands.

“Hullo, what’s this?” muttered the monkey to himself. “I wonder why it’s here?”

Without much thought, he grasped the wedge with both hands, tugging with all his might. The other monkeys stopped their games to watch, sensing that something was about to happen.

And then, in a moment that seemed to last forever, the wedge came loose. But as it did, tragedy struck—the log snapped shut with a great CRACK!

The meddlesome monkey’s finger were caught in the cleft, and with a mix of shock and pain, he realized far too late the folly of interfering with something he did not understand.

The grove fell silent, the playful energy replaced with a somber air. The monkeys, with heavy hearts, learned a valuable lesson about prudence and restraint.

As for the humans, when they returned, they found the monkeys solemn and the lesson etched deeply in their minds. From that day forward, the temple was a place of respect and caution—for both man and beast.

And the tale of the meddling monkey has been told ever since, a reminder for young and old to think wisely before acting and to respect the unknown.

Word Dictionary

Word	Meaning	Synonym	Antonym
Lush	Having a lot of full and healthy growth	Luxuriant, Rich	Barren, Sparse
Buzzed	To be filled with noisy activity or talk	Hummed, Murmured	Silent
Zenith	The highest point reached by a celestial or other object	Peak, Summit	Nadir, Bottom
Descended	Moved from a higher to a lower place	Dropped, Fell	Ascended
Meddlesome	Inclined to interfere in an annoying way	Intrusive, Nosy	Unobtrusive
Mischief	Behavior or activity that is annoying but not seriously harmful	Prank, Trick	Good behavior
Straddling	Sit or stand with one leg on either side of	Span, Mount	Align
Prudence	Acting with or showing care and thought for the future	Wisdom, Caution	Recklessness
Restraint	Moderate or limit one’s actions or feelings	Discipline, Control	Impulse
Folly	Lack of good sense; foolishness	Foolishness, Insanity	Wisdom