Ancient Fables About Monkeys

Monkeys Fishing for the Moon

That night the moon was again very full, and a group of monkeys were playing in the forest.

One little monkey saw a well. He leaned over the edge of the well and looked into it, and lo and behold, there was a full, bright moon in the well. The little monkey was so scared that he ran away, shouting at the top of his lungs, "No good! The moon has fallen into the well! The moon fell in the well!"

The big monkey heard it and rushed over. Looking toward the well, really, there was a round and bright moon in the well. The big monkey was also so scared that he shouted out loud, "It's not good! The moon has fallen into the well! The moon has fallen in the well!"

When the old monkey heard this, he also rushed over and looked into the well, and the moon was indeed in the well. The old monkey then called the monkeys and said to them, "Oh no! The moon has fallen into the well! The moon has fallen into the well! Let's hurry up and get the moon out."

The little monkeys said, "We will be able to fetch the moon up if we climb up a big tree and hang down upside down, one by one, all the way to the well."

Everyone said that was a good idea, and they all climbed up the big tree. The old monkey hooked the branch tightly with both feet and hung down upside down. The big monkey climbed down from the old monkey and hooked his two feet into the old monkey's hands. In this way one monkey after another, always hanging upside down into the well. The last one was the little monkey, and he was heard shouting from the well, "All right, all right, enough."

The little monkey put his hand into the water to fish for the moon, and the water in the well gave him a stir, and the moon broke into pieces and floated in the water. The little monkey cried out in terror, "Alas, no good! The moon is broken for me!"

The old monkey heard this and said angrily, "Alas. So a little thing are not good! The moon is broken, but how to do it!"

Everyone blamed the little monkey.

A little while later, the water in the well slowly calmed down, and the full, bright moon appeared again. The little monkey shouted happily, "Well, well, the moon is full again!" The little monkey can not fish the moon, anxious squeak straight call: "Alas! I'm so tired! The moon is broken when touched, and can no longer be fished up!"

As soon as the little monkey screamed, the monkeys above him also screamed. This one said, "My legs are sore, I can't hang on!" That one said, "My hands hurt, I can't hold on tight!"

At this time, the old monkey suddenly looked up and saw that the full, bright moon was still hanging in the sky, so he said to everyone, "Look, isn't the moon hanging in the sky? In the well is the shadow of the moon. Foolish child, come up and see the moon!"

Hearing the old monkey say this, the little monkeys, the big monkeys, one by one, climbed up. They all looked at the full, bright moon and squealed and laughed.

Expanded Information:

Chinese Idioms about Monkeys

Macaques ride on oxen: a metaphor for a very slow advancement in a position of responsibility.

Making a ghost out of a monkey: a metaphor for being mischievous.

The Monkey's Mouth and Monkey's Cheek: It describes a person who is ugly and vulgar in appearance.

The monkey's face: the monkey's face is a metaphor for the monkey's name, but not for its reality.

Ape and Monkey Taking the Moon: a metaphor for ignorance, and also for wasted effort .

Monkey's head and monkey's brain: to move like a monkey, describing impetuous action.

Monkey Years and Horse Months: a general reference to the coming years.

Hen He Guan Monkey: riding on the crane of the Hen, wearing the monkey of the hat, comparing to the person who abuses the position of the toilet and has a false reputation.

Killing Chickens to Warn Monkeys: The metaphor of killing chickens to teach monkeys is to punish one person in order to intimidate or warn others.

Monkey and crown: Monkeys wear clothes and hats, but they are not real people. It's a metaphor for the fact that a monkey wearing a hat is not a real person, but a puppet. It is often used to satirize the people who are in a position of power by relying on evil forces.

The Monkey: The Monkey is a metaphor for a mischievous person.

Monkey Wrestling: It describes that people who like to show off their cleverness are easy to be fooled.

Killing chickens to scare monkeys: Legend has it that monkeys are afraid of blood, so the monkey tamer killed chickens and let them bleed to terrorize the monkeys. It is a metaphor for punishing one person in order to intimidate or warn others.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Monkey Fishing for the Moon