It is told that in ancient times, a group of monkeys lived in the forest. Among them was a small monkey who was always sad and often cried. This was because God, glory and majesty to Him, had created him without a tail like the other monkeys in the forest. That pained him, as he couldn’t climb trees or swing on them like monkeys usually did.
The monkeys mocked him and often laughed at him, telling him he wasn’t like the other monkeys, and they wouldn’t play with him. That poor, sad monkey would play alone under the tree. The monkey had a friend who was a small dog who would sit with him under the tree.
One day, the dog noticed that the monkey was sad and asked him what was the matter. The monkey told him he was sad because the monkeys wouldn’t play with him. The dog told him to thank God, as God had granted him incredible speed that enabled him to run faster than the other monkeys. But the monkey wasn’t convinced.
The monkey went to his mother and began crying, asking her the reason he was created in that way. The mother told him to thank God and not think in that way. But he didn’t thank his Lord. The monkey decided to go by himself to the forest’s wise one, the elephant, to ask him for a tail. While the monkey was walking on the path, he found his friend the dog.
He asked the dog, saying, “Where are you going, oh monkey?” The monkey answered, saying, “To the forest’s wise one to ask him for a long tail.” The dog was amazed and told the monkey, saying, “What you’re doing is wrong. By that, you’re objecting to God’s decree.” The monkey said, “Don’t interfere, oh dog. Leave me to myself.”
The monkey went to the forest’s wise one and found him extremely small in size, close to the small monkey’s size but with a beautiful elephant form. He asked him, “Are you truly the forest’s wise one?” The elephant answered, “Yes, and don’t be amazed at my form. I’m very much at peace and thank God for that. Despite my form, I have wise intelligence. Therefore, I became the forest’s wise one, as you see.”
So the monkey told him he wanted a long tail to play with the monkeys. The elephant answered, saying, “But you, oh monkey, have something distinctive. You’re extremely fast. If you had a tail, you wouldn’t be able to run at speed.” The monkey was convinced, thanked God, thanked the elephant, hurried to the dog, apologized to him, and told him he didn’t want a tail, so he could play and run with him.