69. The Monkey and the Goat



A wily monkey once stole a workman's rice and lentils.
After gobbling almost all the food, the monkey then set about laying the blame on someone else.
"The goat would make a likely culprit," the monkey thought to himself.
So the monkey fed the rest of the rice and lentils to the goat, making sure to smear food all over the goat's mouth and in his beard.
"Thank you, monkey!" said the gullible goat.
When the workman returned, he blamed the goat.
"You cursed beast!" he shouted as he beat the poor goat, while the monkey just laughed and laughed.

Inspired by: Heeramma and Venkataswami, or Folktales From India by M. N. Venkataswami.
Notes: You can read more about the lentil dish called dal at Wikipedia.



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