Once upon a time, there was a monkey who lived in a big jungle. One day, while he was sitting on a tall tree, strong winds started to blow. The branch on which the monkey was sitting, started shaking in the storm.

The monkey got very scared. He rushed down to the ground and started to roam around in panic and fear. He got an idea and thought to himself, “It’s very risky to sit on this tree. The strong winds might uproot the tree and I’ll die along with it. I must go a little far from this tree.”

Hence, the monkey went and sat under a coconut tree. “I think it’s safer here,” he thought. The storm was still blowing very fiercely. Just when the monkey sat under the coconut tree, two big coconuts fell down with a big thud. After hearing the loud noise of the fallen coconuts, the monkey felt as if there was some big disaster coming up soon. He thought, “I think the earth is shout to split up any moment. Is the world coming to an end? I think all the universe is about to collapse soon.”

After imagining those calamities, the monkey fled fast to ve his life. Seeing the monkey running, a parrot asked, “Hey monkey, where are you going in such haste?”

“I am going to save my life. If you also want to be alive, then follow me now. Also, quickly inform this news to everyone in the jungle,” the monkey replied.

The parrot asked again, “But, what has happened? All seems fine to me.  You please tell me the matter, brother.”

The monkey said, “It’s shocking news. The earth is going to split soon. We may not be able to live more. I saw and felt it myself.”

The parrot gave the news to his fellow parrots. Gradually it spread in the entire jungle like a fire. All the birds and animals in big groups started to fly and run in panic.

But no one came to tell this to the lion. Hearing the loud noises, the lion woke up from his sleep and went to check out the matter. He stopped a running deer and asked him.

“Hey, you deer! Where are you all going in such a hurry? What has happened?”

“My lord, don’t you know that the earth is about to split and we can die anytime? We all are running to another jungle to save our lives. You also must come with us,” replied the deer.

The lion got surprised to hear this. He asked the deer to name the bird or animal who told that news to him. He told about a fox and the fox pointed at a rabbit. The rabbit then pointed at some other animal and thus the chain continued.  Finally, the lion decided to ask the parrot who said ” It was first a monkey who felt and saw the earth sitting. He had asked me to inform this news to everyone in the forest.”

Soon the lion found the monkey and went with him to the same spot where he felt the earth splitting. The lion looked at the entire area very carefully and found out that due to the storm, the coconuts had fallen down. They had hit the rock beside which the monkey was sitting. The foolish monkey had spread false rumors and caused panic among everyone because of his one little misunderstanding. Everyone in the jungle became very angry with the monkey and he felt ashamed.

Moral: Use your prudence before you trust anyone.