There is a mountain in Tibet surrounded by clouds and fog. It rises to the very sky. A mighty, thousand-year-old tree grows on that mountain. Every day, two celestial beings flew there, riding the wind. They sat in the shade of a mighty tree and played chess.
Their activity attracted the attention of one monkey from a dense thicket. Dying from curiosity, she quietly crept up to the tree, hid in the dense foliage and began to spy on the art of the saints.
Day after day went by. The smart monkey learned the tricky rules of the chess game and penetrated the magic of moves.
Soon people heard about the celestials and wanted to see such a miracle with their own eyes.
However, the saints tried to avoid worldly vanity and disappeared before people appeared.
And then the monkey, bursting with the desire to show off his skills, came down from the tree and invited people to fight chess with him. She played so skillfully that there was no one who could defeat her. The news of this spread throughout the area!
When the ruler of that area heard about this amazing monkey, he decided to present it as a gift to the emperor and sent it to the capital. The emperor invited all ministers, scientists and generals to play chess with this amazing monkey. So what?! Among them there was no equal to her! She beat everyone. This fact provoked the emperor even more, and he announced throughout the country: “Whoever defeats the monkey will receive as much gold as a reward as he can carry.”
The best players flocked to the capital from all over the country. One by one they sat down at the chessboard opposite the monkey and lost to it. The Emperor had already completely lost faith that anyone would be able to defeat her.
But then a modest-looking man came and announced that he intended to win against the legendary monkey. By order of the emperor, they were immediately given the opportunity. The first game has begun. The man made his move and, taking a very appetizing banana out of his pocket, began to leisurely eat it. The monkey began to play absentmindedly, every now and then glancing at his opponent. And when he took a juicy golden peach out of his pocket and bit into it, she began to tremble with desire!
Thus, one after another, the monkey lost three games to the man.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru