The night was cold and dark. There was a great storm, thunder and lightning also. Most men and animals, adequately protected, were asleep in their homes. They were warm and happy. But some monkeys were running through the forest. They had no warm home and there was cold. Worried monkeys looked everywhere for shelter. They had almost resigned themselves to be flattened out by the cold. Suddenly they saw some fireflies. Now, fireflies have a light in their tails, as all our children know. The monkeys took the light for fire. Poor things, they did not know any better. They said, 'We will go near the fire and warm ourselves.' There was a flock of birds in a tree nearby. One bird had a kind heart, and it felt sorry for the monkeys. It called out,
'That is not fire, my friends! Those are fireflies. They give no heat. It is futile to run after them.'
Then monkeys got furious and their rage knew no bounds. They did not thank the bird. One monkey said rudely, 'Is it so? We do not want unsolicited advice. I will teach you to say there is no fire.' He jumped up the tree and pulled the poor bird out of its nest. 'Alas!' said the poor bird. 'Why did I try to help a fool?'