The monkey met the elephant by the stream.
The monkey saw the elephant groaning, so it asked while peeling a banana to eat, “What’s wrong with you?”
The elephant spoke in a low voice, wincing in pain, “I’m so itchy! It hurts too! A bee just stung my butt; I can’t scratch it.”
The monkey burst out laughing. “You usually handle it so well. Today, how come you let a bee defeat you?”
Normally, the elephant would rub against something to ease the itch. But this sting was strange. It throbbed now and then, sharp and annoying. The more it rubbed, the worse it got.
The monkey asked, “Why don’t you use your trunk to scratch it? What purpose does that trunk serve in your birth?”
The elephant shook its head disapprovingly. “I wish I had two hands like you!”
The monkey sagged, “I wish I had a trunk as big as yours. I can’t scoop up the unbroken stream with just two hands.”
Thank you for reading.
Yoshiko Amemiya
November 16, 2025