Bodhisatva as a Monkey

Once upon a time, a herd of eight thousand monkeys lived on a huge mango tree that stood on a bank of the Ganges in a forest of the Himalayas. The Bodhisatva was the leader of the monkeys, and he protected the herd from all harm. Now the fruits of the mango tree on which the monkeys lived were sweeter than all other fruits in the world. But one branch of the tree overhung the stream, and the Bodhisatva thought that if some of the mangoes should fall in the river, they might drift down and be seen by some one who might come in search of the tree and do the monkeys harm. So he ordered the monkeys to strip that branch hare and pluck all the fruits on it. The monkeys did as they were told, but unfortunately one fruit remained unseen and it fell in the stream and drifted down. The king of Benaras, while he was taking a bath in the river, happened to see the fruit drifting down and he took it and ate it. Seeing that it was sweeter than any mango he had ever tasted, the king asked his countriers to find out where the tree stood. They had a search made for the tree but could not find anywhere in the kingdom; thereupon the king set out with a big army along the banks of the Ganges and found the tree in the forest. The king saw that the monkeys were eating the fruits on the tree, and desiring to have all the mangoes for himself, he asked his archers to shoot the monkeys.

82 When the monkeys saw the archers they were alarmed because, the nearest tree on to which they could escape stood on the other bank of the stream, and no monkey was strong enough to bound over the stream. Then the Bodhisatva comforted them by saying that he would save them all. After giving them this assurance, he jumped into the stream and quick as thought, swam over to the other bank before any archer could shoot him. He then made a calculation as to the width of the stream, cut a long bamboo pole, tied one end of it to his waist, and fastening the other end to a tree jumped towards the mango tree. But 'alas' the bamboo was short by the length of the body of the Bodhisatva and he could just catch a branch of the mango tree but not alight on it. He, however, asked the monkeys to escape as fast as they could over his own body and the bamboo pole, and all the monkeys. escaped. But the last monkey was a wicked one who was jealous of Bodhisatva's leadership, and as he escaped over the body of his leader smote him and broke his spine. The Bodhisatva, already exhausted by the weight of the stream of monkeys that had passed over his body, could hardly sustain this blow and remained. suspended between the trees, on the point of death. The king of Benaras saw all that had happened and took pity on the Bodhisatva. He ordered his men to climb the tree, and bring the monkey to him. When the monkey was brought to him, the king spoke kindly to him and had his body cleaned, washed and dressed. But with all the efforts of the king to restore him to health, the Bodhisatva died on the same day.