THE STORY OF THE MONKEY WHO WOULD NOT LET GO OF THE BANANA

This is an Asian fable, a Bodhisattva (Buddha reincarnation) tale actually, based on an existing negative trait in monkeys. It goes like this…. Once upon a time there was an overly greedy monkey. He just couldn’t get enough of anything. The more he had the more he wanted. One day on his food prowl he had a chance sighting of a big heavy glass jar (the kind used for making pickles in Asia Major or Asia Minor). It was full of oversized bananas. The jar had a thin neck, the opening just small enough for a banana to slide through. Greed overcame the monkey. He wanted the bananas in spite of the apparent peril. He slid his hand through the neck of the glass jar and grabbed a hold of one oversized banana. But, once he closed his palm into a fist around the banana it was impossible to pull his hand out. He tried to run away with the jar but could not reach far due to the jar being extremely heavy. Buddha, as a reincarnate monkey, advised the erring monkey and ends up giving a long discourse about the trappings in life to the banana enamored monkey, and tells him to let go of his greed, which was being symbolized by the oversized banana, and thus save his own life. The greedy monkey does not heed Buddha’s words. Dejected, the Buddha reincarnate monkey leaves. The monkey with his hand stuck in the jar just couldn’t overcome his greed. So he tried and tried to get the banana out of the glass jar, never realizing the futility of his deed. Thus he was eventually caught by the owners of the jar, who kept on beating the monkey with sticks to no avail, for the monkey would just not relinquish the banana. The monkey died from a severe beating, but even in death, would still not let go of the object of his greed, the banana. Thus the saying in Asia major and minor, a monkey (a greedy human being) won’t let go of the banana. It has no racist slur or pun intended, for these fables originated from the primary races or creeds that suffered from British and European racism and bias, and bore more than 200 years of colonial rule under them. Please read story at message.snopes.com regarding the greedy monkey or just type in on the GOOGLE bar “How to catch a monkey” or “monkey trap hand stuck” to read the real life applications of said fable in catching monkeys.