0036. The Greedy Monkey

From Indian Nights' Entertainment: or, Folk-tales from the Upper Indus by Charles Swynnerton, with illustrations by Indian artists whose names are not provided — "with numerous illustrations by native hands" as it says on the title page, online at: Internet Archive.

Notes. You can find out more about the tradition of the monkey-trap story at Wikipedia.

Summary: A monkey goes away hungry because he is greedy.

Read the story below:

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THE GREEDY MONKEY

(illustration from the book)

Once upon a time a monkey noticed some wheat which had fallen into a small hollow in a rock. Thrusting in his hand, he filled it with the grain, but the entrance was so narrow that he was unable to draw it out without relinquishing most of his prize. This, however, he was unwilling to do, greedily desiring to have it all. So the consequence was that he remained without any, and finally went away hungry.