• The Stolen Jewels

Wisdom

Once upon a time, there was a king who lived in a big castle. One sunny day, he decided to take a walk in the lovely woods around his home. When he came back, he invited his family to swim in the peaceful lake near their garden.

Everyone was excited and got ready to swim. The queen and her ladies took off their jewelry before stepping into the water and handed them to their servants for safekeeping. Among all the jewelry, the queen’s sparkling necklace was the most beautiful. She placed it carefully in a box. But, high up in a tree, a curious monkey saw the shiny necklace and wished she could have it. She hoped that the servant watching over the jewelry would fall asleep.

At first, the servant was very careful, keeping her eyes on the box. But soon, she started feeling sleepy and finally dozed off. The monkey saw her chance! Quickly and quietly, she jumped down, opened the box, and took the queen’s necklace. Then, she climbed back up the tree and hid the necklace in a secret spot.

When the servant woke up and saw that the necklace was gone, she shouted, “The queen’s necklace is missing!” The guards hurried over to see what happened.

The servant said, “I was watching the box, but I fell asleep. When I woke up, the necklace was gone.” The guards told the king, and he ordered, “Find the thief who stole the necklace!” The guards searched everywhere but couldn’t find anyone.

The chief guard had an idea. He thought the monkeys in the garden might have taken the necklace. So, he came up with a plan. He bought strings of shiny, colorful glass beads and hung them on the bushes in the garden at night.

The next morning, the monkeys saw the beads and got very excited. Each monkey grabbed a string of beads and played with it. But the monkey who had the queen’s necklace didn’t join them. She stayed in her hiding place, guarding the real treasure.

As she watched the other monkeys play, she began to feel jealous. Finally, she couldn’t wait any longer. She put on the queen’s necklace and proudly showed off, saying, “Look at my shiny necklace! It’s much prettier than your glass beads!”

Just then, the chief guard, who was hiding nearby, jumped out and caught the monkey. He took her to the king and explained his clever plan. The king was very happy to have the necklace back.

“Thank you for your smart thinking,” the king said to the chief guard. “You showed us that sometimes, the easiest ideas can solve the biggest problems!”