In the monkey kingdom, community is everything. The monkeys look to each other for love and support and do their best to care for one another. In their kingdom, they all look up to and respect their leader. In this case, their leader is King Lorenz. King Lorenz is the largest, most powerful monkey that most in the kingdom have ever seen. Some of the older monkeys claim that greater leaders came before him, but younger generations find that hard to believe.
King Lorenz was strong. He was decisive. He was smart. He was always analyzing situations and making the best decisions for his people. The monkey economy was looking better than ever. Monkeys everywhere praised King Lorenz and constantly looked to him as a role model.
King Lorenz never let any of his success go to his head. Whenever someone would ask him about his accomplishments he would just tell them that he was doing his job, which was to serve his people.
Serve. Little did the monkeys know, this word was always on King Lorenz’s mind. He was always thinking of new ways to help his fellow monkeys and how he could best serve them.
Then one day, King Lorenz’s skills were put to the test when news reached his island that an army was in route to capsize his village. He was told that the people wanted the island for themselves, as it was filled with trees containing the most wonderful and delicious fruit in all the land. They had received strict orders from their king to slaughter any current inhabitants of the island and take it as their own.
This news startled King Lorenz. Thinking quickly, he used his might to jump to a nearby island.
“This island is perfectly fit for my people,” he thought to himself. “It will save them from harm. I must find a way to get them here!”
Then, he noticed a long reed and tied it to a tree. It appeared to be long enough to reach his home island. Eagerly, he tied the reed to his foot and leapt back to his island. However, the reed was a little too short.
How could he complete the bridge?! There must be some technical solution.
Just then, a small monkey approached him.
“Sir!” he exclaimed. “My name is Barney and I am here to serve you! I saw you flying back to the island with the reed and ran here as fast as I could. How may I help you save our people?”
King Lorenz explained that the reed was too short and that it wouldn’t be able to reach. He brainstormed technical solutions and realized that if someone were to tie the rope to their foot, they would be able to hold on to the tree on their island and complete the bridge.
“Will you complete the bridge, dear King? You are so large and strong that you will make the perfect, sturdy surface!” Barney looked at him with eager eyes.
“No,” King Lorenz chuckled. “I am big and strong but my people need me! Without my leadership, they might not survive. What would they do without me? We should find a monkey who has been accused of theft or some other disservice. Logically, it makes sense to risk the life of a lesser monkey.”
Before the King could finish his thought, Barney tied the reed to his foot and grabbed hold of the tree.
“Child!” exclaimed the King, “are you a theft or menace? For what reason did you assume this position?”
“There is no monkey on this island whose life matters less than another,” Barney explained. “You are correct, dear King. What our people need right now is a leader.”
And with that, all monkeys crossed the Barney bridge and made it safely to the island. After every monkey had passed, including King Lorenz, Barney fell to the ground. His small body was in very poor shape and it wasn’t likely that he would survive the night.
The human king, witnessing this selfless act had tears in his eyes. He decreed that he could never hurt creatures with such love in their hearts. He vowed to never touch the monkey kingdom and let them all live happily in peace.
King Lorenz watched the scene unfold with a heavy heart. In the chaos, he forgot the most important aspect of servant leadership: love.
Barney had saved the village and taught the king a lesson he would never forget.
King Lorenz was strong. He was decisive. He was smart. He was always analyzing situations and making the best decisions for his people. The monkey economy was looking better than ever. Monkeys everywhere praised King Lorenz and constantly looked to him as a role model.
King Lorenz never let any of his success go to his head. Whenever someone would ask him about his accomplishments he would just tell them that he was doing his job, which was to serve his people.
Serve. Little did the monkeys know, this word was always on King Lorenz’s mind. He was always thinking of new ways to help his fellow monkeys and how he could best serve them.
Then one day, King Lorenz’s skills were put to the test when news reached his island that an army was in route to capsize his village. He was told that the people wanted the island for themselves, as it was filled with trees containing the most wonderful and delicious fruit in all the land. They had received strict orders from their king to slaughter any current inhabitants of the island and take it as their own.
This news startled King Lorenz. Thinking quickly, he used his might to jump to a nearby island.
“This island is perfectly fit for my people,” he thought to himself. “It will save them from harm. I must find a way to get them here!”
Then, he noticed a long reed and tied it to a tree. It appeared to be long enough to reach his home island. Eagerly, he tied the reed to his foot and leapt back to his island. However, the reed was a little too short.
How could he complete the bridge?! There must be some technical solution.
Just then, a small monkey approached him.
“Sir!” he exclaimed. “My name is Barney and I am here to serve you! I saw you flying back to the island with the reed and ran here as fast as I could. How may I help you save our people?”
King Lorenz explained that the reed was too short and that it wouldn’t be able to reach. He brainstormed technical solutions and realized that if someone were to tie the rope to their foot, they would be able to hold on to the tree on their island and complete the bridge.
“Will you complete the bridge, dear King? You are so large and strong that you will make the perfect, sturdy surface!” Barney looked at him with eager eyes.
“No,” King Lorenz chuckled. “I am big and strong but my people need me! Without my leadership, they might not survive. What would they do without me? We should find a monkey who has been accused of theft or some other disservice. Logically, it makes sense to risk the life of a lesser monkey.”
Before the King could finish his thought, Barney tied the reed to his foot and grabbed hold of the tree.
“Child!” exclaimed the King, “are you a theft or menace? For what reason did you assume this position?”
“There is no monkey on this island whose life matters less than another,” Barney explained. “You are correct, dear King. What our people need right now is a leader.”
And with that, all monkeys crossed the Barney bridge and made it safely to the island. After every monkey had passed, including King Lorenz, Barney fell to the ground. His small body was in very poor shape and it wasn’t likely that he would survive the night.
The human king, witnessing this selfless act had tears in his eyes. He decreed that he could never hurt creatures with such love in their hearts. He vowed to never touch the monkey kingdom and let them all live happily in peace.
King Lorenz watched the scene unfold with a heavy heart. In the chaos, he forgot the most important aspect of servant leadership: love.
Barney had saved the village and taught the king a lesson he would never forget.
Author’s Note: This story was inspired by the tale “The Monkey Bridge” in Twenty Janaka Tales. In this story, the leader of the monkeys selflessly gives his life to save his people. This really made me reflect on the way that I lead others. Sometimes love and care are just as important as any other skill that we commonly use to define a “good leader”. For my story, I wanted to create a King who was the stereotypical definition of a leader: smart, technical, efficient, etc. I wanted to create a character who wasn’t necessarily seen as a “leader” in his group be the one that committed the act of selflessness for his people. This way, the character would teach the leader a lesson just as the original tale taught me a lesson. This story was very fun to write and I enjoyed putting a twist on the original.
Title: Twenty Jataka Tales
Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)
Illustrator: H. Willebeek Le Mair
Year: 1939
Title: Twenty Jataka Tales
Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)
Illustrator: H. Willebeek Le Mair
Year: 1939
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