IN a certain land, a flock of Crows built their nests in the branches of
a huge cotton-tree.
In that country, the climate is not the least like ours. It is hot all
the year round, and for eight months the sun blazes like a fiery
furnace, so that the people who live there are burnt as black as your
boot; then after eight months comes the rain, and the rain comes down in
bucketsful, with lightning fit to blind you, and thunder enough to crack
your head. These Crows were quite happy in their nests, whatever
happened; for when it was hot, the leaves of the trees sheltered them
from the sun, and in the rainy season the leaves kept them pretty dry.
One evening there came a terrible storm, with torrents of rain like
Noah's flood. In the midst of it, the Crows noticed a Monkey sliding
along, drenched and draggle-tailed, looking like a drowned Rat. The
Crows set up a chorus of caws, and called out--
"O Monkey, what a fool you must be! Look at us, dry and comfortable, in
our nests of rags and twigs. If we, with only our little beaks to help
us, can make comfortable nests, why can't you, with two hands and two
feet and a tail?"
[Illustration]
You might have thought the Monkey would take this advice to heart. But
not a bit of it. Monkeys are naturally a lazy tribe, and they are full
of envy, hatred, and malice. What they like best is destroying whatever
they can lay their hands on; and when I look upon some of the nations of
this globe, I cannot help thinking that they really must be descended
from Monkeys. So this Monkey snapt and snarled, and said to the Crows--
"Just wait till morning, and then we'll see what a Monkey can do."
The simple birds were delighted to hear this, and looked forward to
seeing the Monkey do something wonderfully clever, with his tail and his
two hands and two feet.
Morning came, and the rain was over. The Monkey climbed up into the
tree, and in his rage and envy he tore all the Crows' nests to pieces.
Then the Crows were sorry they spoke, and determined
for the future to mind their own business,
and let fools alone. For, as the wise man
said, "To give good advice to a fool
is like pouring oil upon
the fire."
[Illustration]