Did you know that there were no monkeys on earth before? Yes, yes, there were no those same monkeys who jump from branch to branch, make children laugh with their antics and happily feast on bananas, peaches and oranges!
So, there were no monkeys, and the people in one village were left with so much fruit that very soon they became fat and lazy. Every day they became fatter and fatter, lazier and lazier, and it ended with the fact that all day long they just lay in the sun and ate fruit. The only thing they are. What bothered themselves was to get up from the ground to pick ripe fruits. But in the end, the villagers became so lazy that they preferred to wait until the fruits ripened and fell into their mouths.
None of them wanted to lift a finger to remove the banana peels, peach pits and orange seeds that were lying around. Heaps of garbage were piled up around, and a lot of men, wasps, beetles and all sorts of other insects flocked to them.
At first the lazy people slept peacefully. The buzzing of insects even lulled them to sleep, like a lullaby. But soon they became so overgrown with dirt that hard times came for them. They were bitten by horseflies, stung by wasps and bees, and some beetles pinched them painfully and tickled them unpleasantly.
- What should we do? - the lazy people asked each other.
“Can you imagine, I had to raise my hand to drive away the fly,” one complained.
“And I had to turn my head to get a bee off my nose,” another cried.
— Maybe we should remove the banana peel? - suggested the third.
— Or throw away the peach pits? - asked the fourth.
“And orange seeds,” supported the fifth.
“This is too much,” everyone else hissed. - We can’t do this kind of work.
“We still have to do something,” said one woman, yawning.
“Okay, we’ll come up with something someday,” the other lazy people grumbled dissatisfiedly. - Only later, but now it’s time to sleep. We are tired of these conversations.
And everyone started snoring together.
So weeks, months, years passed. There was no change for the better. For lazy people, of course. But not for flies, wasps, beetles and other insects. They all got very fat during this time.
One day a stranger wandered into the village. He waddled slowly on short legs, his hair and beard were red, and his ears were so large that they flapped in the wind like palm leaves.
-What is this strange place? ~ the stranger was surprised when he walked into the village. -So many flies, bees, wasps, beetles! You can't see people behind them. However, I see someone sleeping right on the ground. I can even hear him snoring.
The stranger slowly walked around the sleeping lazy people and tried not to wake anyone.
“I think I’m beginning to understand what’s going on,” he suddenly said. “There are so many insects here because the people of this village are very lazy.” They don't even want to lift a finger. Where can they clean up the banana peels, peach pits and orange seeds?
He walked up to the bush, cut off several branches, made a broom and a basket out of them, and began collecting garbage in it.
The stranger worked until sunset, and yet he managed to clear only a tiny piece of land from debris.
At dusk the lazy people began to wake up: it was time for dinner.
The main sloth, Tera, turned his head to his servant Kuko:
- What new happened to us this day? Were there any incidents while I was sleeping?
Cuco himself had been lying around all day, so he replied:
— A stranger is walking around the village. He worked all day, clearing some land of banana peels, peach pits and orange seeds.
- Did you work? — Tera said in bewilderment. “Why would a stranger work here?” Strange! Perhaps I'll have to talk to him.
“Okay, Tera, I’ll tell him your request.”
Kuko turned on the other side to his servant Yana and said:
- Yana, Tera wants to talk to a stranger.
- Okay, Kuko, I'll tell him. Yana turned on the other side and said to his servant:
- Pura, Tera wants to talk to a stranger.
“Okay, Yana, I’ll tell him,” Pura said and turned on the other side to his servant so that he would convey Tera’s will further.
This is how the news reached the stranger that Tera wanted to talk to him.
“I will be happy to talk with your leader,” said the stranger, put the basket on the ground and approached Tera.
-Who are you? - Tera asked. - And why are you working like crazy? They told me that you managed to clear a piece of land in our village from garbage.
- Yes, I was able to remove quite a bit. And the stranger stroked his red beard. “So there’s a lot of work ahead. The whole village is littered with banana peels, peach pits and orange seeds.” Your huts are overgrown with dirt and are falling apart from disrepair. The clothes had long since decayed and were falling apart at the seams.
“Yes, that’s right,” Tera yawned. -We have become too fat and lazy to work.
“I can see for myself,” said the stranger, “It’s okay, I can handle the job without your help;
-Can you do everything alone? - Tera asked incredulously.
“I’ll make sure the job is done,” the stranger answered evasively.
- Do what you want. I'm tired of talking to you. My eyes are already sticking together.
Tera turned on his other side and immediately began snoring.
The stranger returned to a small piece of land, which he cleared of debris, deftly cut several branches from the trees and began to make something out of them.
- Is this how you work? - one of the lazy people told him. - Yes, you are as lazy as we are!
The stranger ignored the remark and deftly cut something out of the branches. He worked all night long. By sunrise, five hundred wooden figures stood on the ground next to him.
When the villagers woke up in the morning and saw the figures, they began to laugh loudly.
- What a waste of time! Well, aren't you stupid? We relax, and you cut out and cut out figures that no one needs!
“My figures are not at all as unnecessary as you think,” the stranger patiently explained. - You will soon see this.
He stood up to his full height, extended his hands over the figures, cast a magic spell, and immediately one of the figures rose to his feet. Behind her is another, third, fourth...
A few moments later, all five hundred figures stood exactly in a row.
At the sight of such an amazing spectacle, the lazy people froze in amazement.
- People of the village! - the stranger addressed them loudly. “You’ve all gotten fat and lazy, no one wants to work.” That's why I created an entire army of servants for you. They will remove trash, clean and renovate huts, and mend your clothes. In short, they will do whatever is needed.
- Hooray! - the lazy people shouted. - Now you can sleep peacefully.
The stranger turned to the wooden figures and said;
- Each of you will have your own job.
And he sent several of them to hunt, others to remove garbage, and others to tidy up their homes.
The villagers were very pleased. Now, all day long, while they basked in the sun, the wooden servants worked tirelessly for them.
A lot of time has passed. One day a sloth rose from the ground and said:
“I guess I’ll do something myself today.” I'll go sweep the floor of the hut.
But the sweeper servant immediately rushed as fast as he could into her hut with a broom in his hands, and when the woman approached the hut, there was not a speck or a speck of dust on the floor.
“I also want to do something,” said the other lazy man. - Let me go brush the goat.
And again - by the time he arrived, everything had already been done.
“I think I’ll give the baby a bath,” the young woman got out of bed.
And here the servant was ahead of her - the clean, tidy baby was already lying in the cradle.
The lazy people were increasingly overcome by an incomprehensible anxiety. They would be happy to work, but there is no work left - the servants have redone everything.
Then the lazy people all got together and went to the stranger.
-What are you unhappy with? — the stranger was surprised, and he continued to cut out the figures. — Do the servants do a bad job? Well, it’s okay, I cut out five hundred more servants for you.
- Enough! We don't need any more of your servants! - the lazy people shouted. - We want to do everything ourselves!
The stranger silently made figures. Then the lazy people turned to Tera.
- Tell me, leader, what should we do? - they asked. - We need to do something!
Tera closely watched the whole army of servants who scurried back and forth tirelessly.
“To be honest, I don’t know what to do,” he said. “After all, now we have more servants in the village than ourselves.” This is what I suggest. Let's move to another place. There is nothing more for us to do here, but on the new lands we can at least build our own huts anew.
- Right! - shouted one of the lazy people. - And we’ll carry water for ourselves!
- And pick fruit! - added another.
- And clean up the trash! - put in a third.
“Great,” Tera said and rose to his feet. “We’ll hit the road now.”
The lazy people collected their few belongings and moved to a new place. And the old village was left to wooden servants.
Meanwhile, the stranger was making and making his figures. Soon there were a lot of them. Of course, when the lazy people moved to a new place and lived there like all normal people, they no longer needed servants. And then the question arose: what to do with the countless wooden figurines?
Soon the figures quarreled because they could not divide who should do what. Then they decided to move to the trees. After some time, they became covered with fur, learned to fly dashingly from tree to tree, and deftly cling to branches with long, flexible tails.
This is how monkeys appeared in Colombia. And the stranger keeps carving and carving his wooden figures...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru