The king not only wept openly but personally came with a katar to see the monkey and to pay homage to him.
Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o.. there was a poor woman who had a son who was big and strong but quite worthless. He could spend all his days just lying in a meadow and watching the clouds drift in the sky or he would sometimes sit on the steps of the village chorten or stupa and watch the village children as they played in the archery ground. He was so lazy that he would not even raise his hand up to his nose to clean it. The villagers nicknamed called him Pladong or Lazy.
Year after year while the other villagers busied themselves with the processes of plowing, planting, and harvesting, life for Pladong was unchanging. Every morning he rose when the sun was high in the sky and went to lie down again in the meadows after he had eaten what his mother had prepared. He had spent eighteen years of his life doing absolutely nothing.
Pladong’s neighbor was a kindly old man who was always ready to help the mother and son. One year he sternly said, “This will never do, Pladong. You have to start doing something.” He gave Pladong a dri of maize seeds and showed him how to prepare the field and sow them. Every day Pladong resentfully followed the kind old man to the field who taught him all he knew. Pladong finally learned to work and he was happy when the maize field was full of tall plants with rich big cobs, full of the promise of a rich harvest. Every day he went to check his field to see when it would be ready for harvesting. Finally it was time for harvest! So early one morning when he went to the field, carrying the largest basket he could find in the house, he was dreaming of the rows upon rows of golden cobs that would fill the attic of his house. His dream was abruptly ended when he saw with shock that his entire field was full of monkeys. They had eaten what they could and had played around by pulling the stalks this way and that way. Not a single maize cob was left in the field. Full of fury Pladong began to chase the monkeys but they ran into the nearby forest and quietly disappeared into the thick foliage of the trees. He lost all of them save for a lame monkey who could not run as fast as the others and was hiding behind a tree. He caught the monkey by its neck and threatened to kill it.
The monkey begged to be spared. “I will help you and make you a rich man if you will spare me my life.”
“No, never!” said the boy, who was fuming with anger because the first useful thing he had ever done in his life had been thwarted by a group of mischievous monkeys.
“Kuchen la (mercy),” begged the monkey, “I promise you that I will make you a very rich man.”
After many pleas and promises Pladong finally agreed to spare the monkey’s life if he could indeed make him a rich man.
The monkey at once headed to the palace of the king of the region and stated boldly, “O king, the king of Bhakho needs a bride. Your daughter would make a fitting queen for the king.”
The king stared at the monkey in utter disbelief. But being a king he quickly regained his royal composure and said, “Before I give my daughter away I must see the palace of your king.”
“That can easily be arranged. I shall inform the king of Bhakho,” replied the monkey as his mind began to work frantically on a scheme to get a palace for his king.
Next, the monkey went to the palace of the sinpo which was located in the next valley. The nine storied palace stood in the middle of a broad valley surrounded by rich fields of wheat and barley. Scores of cattle and horses grazed on the hillsides. The palace walls were richly decorated with precious metals and they shone and glittered in the sunlight. Seeing this the monkey thought, “Hummm ... this will make a fine palace for my king.”
So the monkey limped confidently to the palace gate and was at once met by the one-eyed lady who was the gate keeper of the sinpo’s palace.
“I carry with me an edict from the king of China and I must give it the sinpo himself this instant,” announced the monkey.
The one-eyed lady looked severely at this monkey with her one eye and called the three-eyed guard. The three-eyed guard rolled its eyes menacingly in different directions and said, “Five Eyes will know what to do with you.”
The guard with the five eyes came, and without even looking in his direction called the seven-eyed guard who came promptly and, taking one quick look at the monkey, said, “Go and meet the other Eyes,” and pointed towards a series of doors. The monkey went in and met the guards with various numbers of eyes and finally Nine Eyes took him and ushered him into the presence of the sinpo, announcing, “The messenger from China.”
The monkey at once took out a sheet of paper, and with an extravagant flourish, and holding himself as tall as he could possibly make himself, he cleared his throat three times and proceeded to read aloud the edict from the king of China. The edict simply said, “The king of China declares war on the sinpo.”
The sinpo instantly fell into a state of panic and began to pace back and forth in his enormous room. His head hung over his chest and his fangs drooped and touched the golden floors, making deep furrows in the floor as he paced back and forth restlessly. “Do you know the king of China?” he at last addressed the monkey.
“Yes, I do,” lied the monkey effortlessly. “In fact I know him quite well,” he added, when the sinpo did not respond.
When the sinpo still did not react he went on, “Now as I see that you are a good sinpo, I would also like to warn you that the king of China intends to use something called cannons on you.”
“How can we save ourselves from the cannon?” asked the sinpo, suddenly interested.
The monkey replied, “That will be easy if you do exactly as I tell you.”
The sinpos enthusiastically followed his advice. They immediately constructed straw huts. “The cannon balls will go right through the straw,” the monkey had told them judiciously, “and you will all be saved.”
When the huts were ready the monkey asked all the sinpos to get into the huts and warned them not to get out on any account until he told them to do so. Once the sinpos were all in the huts, the monkey lit a torch and went from hut to hut setting them on fire, one after the other, yelling “Sinpo gola mai chop chop (Fire on the sinpo).”
The sinpos shrieked, “Is it not time to get out yet?”
“These cannons are very powerful indeed. We are burning.”
“We are being roasted alive.” Soon only the ashes of the sinpos blew about in the wind and the lame monkey had got the most beautiful palace for the Bhakho king.
The Bhakho king now had to have some clothes worthy of his position. The monkey once again began to contrive a scheme. He went to the king’s tailor and picked up all the discarded pieces of the richest fabrics he could find-there were brocades, silks, and velvets. Taking these he headed to the river and scattered them on the bushes that grew on the banks of the river. Having done this he told the Bhakho king to sit on a boulder in the middle of the river. Then he pretended to panic and rushed to the king and exclaimed, “The king of Bhakho was on his way to visit you and to personally invite you to his palace. Last night he camped on the river bank and a sudden flood washed away the entire camp and the king has lost everything. The only survivors were the king and myself.”
“What can I do for your king?”
“The king needs some clothes as all his clothes were washed away and only a few pieces of cloth can be found scattered along the banks of the river,” wailed the monkey, with the saddest expression on his face.
The king looked out of his window and it was indeed true, the bushes on the river banks were littered with bits and pieces of the richest fabrics as the Bhakho king sat naked and shivering on a boulder in the middle of the river. He at once asked his servants to send some of the best clothes in his palace to the disaster-stricken king of Bhakho. In this way the Bhakho king not only had the best palace but also the best clothes.
The king, accompanied by his ministers visited the palace and gasped at its wealth and grandeur. The palace was splendid and the wealth was enormous. He at once agreed to give his daughter as the bride. As the auspicious day of the wedding drew nearer the monkey realized with alarm that his king had never lived in a palace, eaten good food, nor had he been in the company of kings and princes, so he had to teach the Bhakho king to walk carefully on golden floors that shone and glittered. Most importantly he had to warn this hungry boy not to eat too quickly or too much.
On the day of the wedding the monkey limped beside the king and send subtle and discreet signs to his king to remind him to behave regally. Every time the Bhakho king walked carelessly and too~ steps that were too big, the monkey tugged his sleeve. When the Bhakho king began to eat too much the monkey made a fist at the king. Everybody who came to the wedding talked of nothing else for days afterwards but the young and handsome king who was so royal and so rich.
Thus, the Bhakho king and his queen lived happily together for many years while the lame monkey stayed on to advise them. The monkey as he grew older began to feel neglected and he often wondered whether the Bhakho king was grateful to him. He thus decided to test the king’s memory and his gratitude. So one day he lay down under a tree, put some kaphe in his mouth, which looked like the eggs of meat flies, and pretended to be dead. It was not long before one of the servants saw him and went to report to the king, “O king, the monkey is dead.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Drag it by its legs and throw it into the river,” said the king unconcernedly.
At this the monkey was absolutely infuriated and threatened the king, saying, “I shall tell everybody who you really are.”
The king was mortified and begged the monkey for his forgiveness.
From then on the monkey was treated with respect and concern until a few years later, when again he felt neglected. He once again pretended to be dead. This time when the news of his death was reported to the king, the king not only wept openly but personally came with a katar to see the monkey and to pay homage to him. This made the monkey very happy and he had a great urge to laugh. While he was trying to suppress his laughter he choked on the kaphe which he had sprinkled in his mouth and he indeed died.