Once upon a time, in a lush green forest, there lived a group of animals, with lion as the elected king of the forest. Being a kind-hearted and smart king, he respected everyone alike and was available for his subjects, their thoughts, and ideas were not only heard but also acknowledged. In return animals also loved their king but also tried their best to outdo one another in getting his attention, praise, and prize.
A beaver was one of the animals living in that forest. He was shy in nature and always minded his own business. His day started with waking up early in the morning, visiting a distant good maple tree for lunch, and coming back with some twigs to share with his friends.
Daily on his way to the maple tree and back, he used to pick whatever he can find in the forest that intrigued him. There was no reason for this but had become a habit. He stored his collection inside a small lodge, his home, which he created himself using mud and sticks.
One day while he was enjoying twigs with his friend, they heard a distant sound coming from the forest square, this was a royal announcement, starting with three loud sounds of drums – “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, your king needs your help, one of the royal cubs has lost a precious pearl from his crown jewel and the king will reward whoever finds it and brings it to him, Oyez, Oyez, Oyez”. Not finding the announcement of their interest, the beaver ignore it and continued with his lunch.
At night when the beaver was trying to sleep, his mind went to the royal announcement and he recalled that a few days back he found something similar to the precious pearl the royal guards spoke of. His eyes were suddenly wide open. He was aware that this could be his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and started looking for the pearl in his piles of collected souvenirs. He dug and dug and then some more, to look for the pearl which could change his life. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something shiny in the group of buttons, and viola he had the pearl.
The next morning, he excitedly ran to the king lion’s cave and presented him with the pearl, both the royal guards and the cub inspected and identified the pearl. King was so pleased with beaver and his honesty that he not only gave him many rewards but also provided a good spot to live with royal safety.
This news spread like a wildfire amongst the animals. It reached the monkey tree as well, where all the monkeys used to live. On hearing this, one of the monkeys wanted to be famous just like the beaver. He too decided to start collecting the items, but soon realized this can not happen if he stayed in the trees. He decided to live and move on the forest ground thinking that one-day a similar thing might happen to him as well. As per the plan, he now started collecting any valuables he could find.
Days, Weeks, Months, and then Years passed, and the monkey now had a lot of things amassed with him. He was able to help a few fellow animals out of it, helping him make some money but no new royal opportunity came. This unending wait ultimately dishearted him and he planned to go back to his fellow monkeys up in the trees.
When he reached the trees, all his friends were very happy to see him after a long time and welcomed him with good fruits and showed him their new fortunes. The monkey saw when he was trying to live a beaver’s life on the ground, his friends were able to build themselves the lavish life he had been wishing for.
The monkey was shocked to see how well all his other friends were doing while he was toiling away on the ground. He asked one of his friends how were they able to earn all things on the trees when he couldn’t on the grounds.
They told him that after the cub and the beaver’s incident, a few monkeys approached the lion and suggested improving security in the forest. They will look after the cubs and other forest animals from the top of the trees. This will not only help the royals but also the entire forest, in any misfortune or danger. The king liked their acumen and appointed them as the royal guards from the trees.
This impressed and amazed the monkey, at the opportunity his friends themselves created out of the same beaver incident. This gave him hope and inspired him to start again, this time by himself.
[Writer’s Corner]
A quick question asked by one of my acquaintances – ” Why do I write weekly fables and why do I use animals and forests/jungles in my fables?”. The answer is pretty simple. I try to convey my thoughts, ideas, and learnings through fables and these are inspired by daily observations. Keeping animals and jungles makes it easy for anyone(even kids) to understand the idea behind the fable.
