CAP SELLER AND THE MONKEYS

A few years back I read modern version of the story “The cap seller and the monkeys”. I found it interesting then. Recently I told the story to my friends to kill time during journey and all of them liked the same. I am giving below the story for everybody to enjoy.

A cap seller was selling caps and was always on the move from one village to another to find new customers. On a hot summer day, he was on his way to a village. The heat was unbearable and he was sweating profusely. By noon he was drained of all energy and was very hungry and thirsty. He saw a big Banyan tree and decided to lunch under it and take some rest in the shadow. He took his lunch and drank plenty of water which he always carried wherever he went. A cool breeze refreshed him and lulled him to sleep.
After about two hours, he woke up and decided to proceed on his journey. He was astonished to find all the caps missing from his bag. He was completely confused. A thief would have taken the bag containing the caps and also would have robbed money and other valuables. In this case the bag was open and only the caps were missing. He raised his head in thought and found the culprits on the tree. Monkeys which were living in the tree saw merchant wearing a cap sleeping under the tree. They were curious. One by one the came down, took a cap from the bag and climbed up. They sat on the branches wearing the cap on their heads.
The cap seller was in real trouble. He tried his best to retrieve the caps from the monkeys. The monkeys jumped from one branch to another holding the cap. The more he tried, higher the monkeys went. His frantic effort amused them. Some of them started imitating him. The cap seller felt helpless and was out of ideas. He threw his cap on the ground out of frustration. Lo and behold all the monkeys imitated him and threw their cap on the ground. Armed with a stick on one hand the cap seller collected all the caps happily and went on his way.
Most of us might have studied the above story in our childhood. The real twist to the story comes only after this.
The cap seller earned sufficient money and married a woman. He was blessed with a son soon. As he grew old, he trained his son in the trade. After his son’s marriage he decided to retire and made his son in charge of his business. He spent his time with his grand son by telling lot of stories as well as his experience in life. Life was smooth and full of joy. One day he passed away peacefully.
The grandson grew up and took charge of the family business. On a hot summer day he was passing from one village to another carrying a heavy bag full of new caps in various colours. Seeing a big banyan tree, he decided to take lunch under it. A cool breeze was blowing and lulled him to sleep. After his nap he awoke and found all the caps from his bag missing. He looked up and saw some monkeys wearing the caps. He remembered his grand father’s experience and decided to use the same trick.
He threw his cap on the ground faking frustration and waited for the monkeys to imitate him.
Time passed and to his utter disbelief, none of the monkeys threw the cap. After some minutes, one stout monkey, the leader of the group removed his cap, safely kept it on the tree and came down. He went near the grandson, gave him a big slap and told
“You little fool, like you; I also had a grand father”

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