Fox Comes Down From The Mountain

There once was a Monkey who climbed a mountain.

And at the very top of the mountain, he met a Fox.

Good fellow, said Fox, why have you made so perilous an expedition for one as small as you?

I come seeking knowledge, said Monkey. There must be more to the world than what we see around us.

Fox reached up, and with his paw, he plucked the ripest and sweetest piece of fruit from the Heavens.

Most intrepid of Monkeys, he said, your courage shall not go unrewarded.

Here is the world. Study it closely, so that you may learn all you can.

But that is only a norange, laughed Monkey. The world is not a norange!

And yet I tell you, this is what you seek, said Fox. Would you refuse my gift?

Having climbed all the way up the mountain, Monkey knew it would be a long way down again, especially with an empty stomach, and so he accepted Fox's offering gratefully. Even though he did not believe the norange to be anything more than it appeared.

Now I would ask something of you, said Fox.

Anything, said Monkey.

Promise me you will not eat the whole fruit yourself, but portion it equally among all of your kind.

There are so many of us, said Monkey. One norange will not be enough.

I will have your word, said Fox, or you will leave here with nothing. The choice is yours.

In that case, said Monkey, I will share your norange.

And so Monkey made his way back down the mountain, to his family and friends.

What did you find? They asked.

Only this, said Monkey, holding out the fruit for all to see. And a fool of a Fox.

But remembering his promise, he tore open the norange and gave a piece to each of them, saying: My world is yours. All that I have in the world I give willingly.

And for every segment Monkey gave freely, a new one took its place, until every other Monkey had eaten of its flesh, savouring its sweetness, sucking the piece dry, and spitting out the pips.

From the seeds grew trees. And on the trees grew more noranges.

There was no place where Monkey did not simply need to reach up and pick for himself a full ripe and sweet norange.

One day, many years later, Fox came down from the mountain.

Who is the fool now? He asked Monkey.

I am, said Monkey. I did not believe you, but look... See how happy we are. You gave me the gift of more than a norange. You gave me the wisdom to realize the importance of sharing. Not just food, but knowledge. Thank you, friend Fox. You are truly the wisest of all.