A Foolish Friend Illustration: The king strolling in the royal garden with his pet monkey Once upon

a time there lived a very rich king. He owned a pet monkey. He was extremely fond of his pet. There is no better pet than you, my friend, he told the monkey repeatedly. Every morning, the monkey would go with the king for his walk in the royal garden. Just like every day, one fine morning when the king was out in the garden for his morning walk, the monkey spotted a snake hiding in the grass. It was ready to pounce on the king and kill him. The monkey wanted to save his master. He quickly came up with a plan. Illustration: The pet monkey killing the snake while the king looks on Waiting for the right moment, the monkey jumped on the snake and tore it to pieces, thereby saving the kings life. When the king realized what the monkey had done, he was very pleased. The news spread like wildfire across the kingdom. Soon, the king, who was proud of the monkeys alertness, appointed the monkey as his personal bodyguard, despite much uproar in the kings ministry. Many opposed the kings decision. They said that the monkey was just another animal and could not serve the purpose of a strongly-built human bodyguard. The army chief also told the king, Sir, animals are supposed to be kept as pets. They cant serve the purpose of a bodyguard. Please let one of my men be your bodyguard to protect you from all types of dangers. The king, however, did not change his mind. He said, The monkey loves me a lot and is very loyal. That is the most important quality in a personal bodyguard. Did you all not see how he saved my life? I do not want anyone else. The monkey will be my bodyguard from now on. The kings words silenced those who were against the monkey being hired as a bodyguard. The kingdom went back to functioning normally. Illustration: The king in his bedroom, giving instructions to the monkey. The king should be in his night dress and the monkey should wear something that shows he is the bodyguard This went on for many months. Then one day, when the king was in his bedroom, resting, he called the monkey and said, I am extremely tired. I am going to sleep for a few hours. I do not want any disturbance. Do not let anyone enter or disturb me. Do you understand? Yes, my Lord. I will abide by your orders, said the monkey. Illustration: The king sleeping and the monkey standing guard next to his bed The king went off to sleep and the monkey got down to business. He stood near the kings bed and remained watchful throughout. A little while later, a fly entered the kings bedroom. After wandering around in the room for a while, the fly began buzzing near the sleeping kings face. The king started to toss and turn. His peaceful sleep was being disturbed. Illustration: The king looking a little disturbed and the monkey trying to shoo the fly away

The monkey, well aware of the kings orders, thought, The king had asked me not to let anyone near him and disturb him. The fly seems to be disturbing the king. I will teach the fly a lesson. The monkey soon got into action and tried to shoo away the fly that was buzzing over the sleeping king but the fly remained adamant on buzzing near the king. After trying for a while, the monkey succeeded in driving the fly away. He was happy with what he had done and smiled to himself. However, to his dismay, the fly returned after a while. This made the monkey furious and the monkey pledged to take the fly to task. Illustration: The monkey has put the sword in the kings neck and killed him. The fly should be shown flying a little above them. He grabbed the kings sword and began looking for the fly that kept on flying from here to there. After a while, the monkey heard the buzzing sound of the fly and saw it sitting on the kings neck. The monkey was glad that the fly had finally settled down. He rubbed his hands in glee. Aiming at the fly, he brought down the sword with all his might, hoping that he would succeed in slicing the fly into two. Unfortunately, the sword missed the fly and crashed on the kings neck, killing him. The people of the kingdom were sad at the death of their king. They mourned his loss. Moral: Sometimes a foolish friend does more harm than a wise enemy Exercises Build your vocabulary Adamant: not agreeing to change their mind Appoint: to give a role or a job to someone Furious: to be extremely angry Mourn: to show sorrow and regret for someone or for their death Pounce: to suddenly spring on someone Uproar: an extremely loud disturbance or noise Wildfire: a large fire that spreads quickly and causes a lot of destruction Fill in the blanks 1. The king had a pet _______. 2. The monkey saved the king by killing a _________. 3. The king appointed the monkey as his ____________. 4. The monkey killed the king with a __________.