The Monkey and the Wedge
Also known as Bandar aur Kheel
- 2 minute read
- Ages 5-9
- Panchatantra Stories
A merchant was building a temple outside a town, and the carpenters worked there every day.
One of them was splitting a long log lengthways. He had cut partway along it and driven a wooden wedge into the split to hold the two halves apart, so he could keep sawing without the cut closing up behind him.
At midday the workmen stopped and went off to eat.
The visitors
A troop of monkeys came down into the yard.
They did what monkeys do. They got into the tools. They swung on the scaffolding, sat on the stacked bricks, pulled things over and put nothing back.
One of them found the half-split log.
It was interesting. It was long and it had a gap running down the middle of it, and there was a wooden thing jammed in the gap that plainly did not belong there.
He sat down astride the log, in the gap, with his tail hanging down through it, and took hold of the wedge with both hands.
Pulling
It did not come easily.
He braced his feet and pulled properly, and worked it back and forth, and it began to move.
The other monkeys had stopped to watch by then.
He got both hands round it and gave it everything he had, and the wedge came free.
And the log closed.
Moral of the story
Do not interfere with something you do not understand. The wedge was there for a reason, and the monkey never once wondered what the reason was.
Questions and answers
- Why had the carpenter put a wedge in the log?
To hold the two halves of the split apart so the cut would not close up behind his saw.
- What were the monkeys doing in the yard?
Playing with the tools, swinging on the scaffolding and pulling things over while the workmen were away eating.
- How was the monkey sitting when he pulled the wedge?
Astride the log with his tail hanging down through the gap.
- What happened when the wedge came out?
The two halves of the log closed together.
- What did the monkey fail to ask?
Why the wedge was there in the first place.
Word meanings
- wedge
- A piece of wood or metal, thick at one end, used to hold things apart.
- scaffolding
- A temporary frame put up around a building under construction.
- astride
- Sitting with one leg on each side of something.
- braced
- Pressed firmly against something for support.
Questions about The Monkey and the Wedge
What is the moral of The Monkey and the Wedge?
That you should not meddle with things whose purpose you do not know. It is often summarised as 'a meddlesome monkey comes to grief'.
Is the ending described?
No. The story ends with the log closing, which is all the Panchatantra says. Nothing further is described.
Why is this story so short?
It is one of the shortest in the Panchatantra and is used as a framing example inside a longer tale, to make a single point quickly.
What is a good way to explain the lesson?
Ask a child why the wedge was there. Once they work that out, they understand the whole story without being told.