Near the castle of the Kingdom of Pàwǎ, there was a large tree where three monkeys lived. They loved collecting shiny things.
One hot night, the king slept with his window open. A monkey noticed the open window and sneaked inside. As soon as it entered the bedroom, it saw the king’s crown on the table. The crown was inlaid with pearls and diamonds, sparkling in the dark. The monkey was overjoyed and grabbed the crown, jumping out the window. Back in the tree, the monkey hid the crown in a tree hollow.
The next morning, the king discovered that his crown was missing. He walked to the window and saw the three monkeys climbing the tree. The king thought, “No one but the monkeys could have stolen the crown so quietly.” The king informed his guards, Ailéi and Lāwéi, about the missing crown and said, “If you can find the crown, I will reward you generously.”
Ailéi and Lāwéi arrived under the tree and were dumbfounded. Ailéi sighed, “There are too many holes in this tree. Finding the crown hidden inside one of them is too difficult!”
Just then, a monkey threw a nut onto Lāwéi’s hat. Lāwéi touched his hat and said, “Maybe the monkeys will give us a clue.”
Ailéi laughed, “The monkeys will help us? Stop dreaming. We haven’t had breakfast yet, let’s go eat breakfast first.”
Lāwéi didn’t follow Ailéi to breakfast. He sat down and observed the monkeys. The monkeys were swinging from branches, performing all sorts of amusing antics. Lāwéi smiled and said, “I’ve got an idea.”
Lāwéi found two old hats and hung them on the branches. Soon, one monkey put the felt hat on its head, and another monkey tried to take the straw hat. But the third monkey glanced at its two companions and then quickly climbed up the tree. In a short while, it came back down wearing the king’s crown on its head. “Look at me,” the monkey said to its companions, “I have the most beautiful hat in the world!”
Watching the monkey hide the crown in the tree hollow again, Lāwéi smiled. He quickly climbed the tree and took out the crown. “I’m very sorry, but you can’t keep the king’s crown,” Lāwéi said to the monkey, “But I’m glad you like to show off.”
The king kept his promise and rewarded Lāwéi with a bag of gold coins.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
