The King of the Monkeys
Once upon a time, at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed, two very different travellers were journeying. One of the travellers was an honest man who always told the truth, the other a flatterer who constantly told sweet lies. After a long and tiring journey, they found themselves in a mysterious land of monkeys where magnificent trees rose. The ruler of this kingdom was a huge monkey king seated on a golden throne, surrounded by monkeys large and small. The king studied these human guests who had come to his palace with curiosity and ordered his soldiers to bring them before him. The king of the monkeys puffed out his chest with pride and approached the lying traveller first. "Tell me, stranger, what do you think of me and of this honourable court around me?" he asked.
The cunning traveller bowed without hesitating and began to speak with great respect. "You are one of the most exalted kings in the world, and everyone around you is a vizier nobler than the last," he said. Enchanted by these sweet words, the king at once ordered that precious gifts made of gold be given to the man. When the turn of the honest traveller came, the man made a calculation of his own. "If the liar received such a great reward merely by saying sweet words, I shall receive even more when I declare the truth," he thought. When the king put the same question to him, the honest man stepped forward with a confident air. "You are only a large monkey, and those around you are ordinary monkeys," he said, telling the truth openly.
Hearing this bitter truth, the monkey king went mad with rage in an instant and his pride was wounded. The ruler, accustomed to hearing only praise, ordered his guards to throw the honest man into the dungeon at once. The honest traveller, believing that telling the truth was always right, had to live through a bitter experience. He paid a heavy price for speaking the truth in a place where lies and flattery ruled. While the two travellers were carried towards different fates, silence settled once more in the depths of the forest. One must understand that telling every truth in every place will not always bring a good result. People chase the honest man out of every village.