The Nut and the Tree

A monkey and a snake lived in the same big tree in the forest. The monkey lived at the top. The snake lived at the bottom.

One day, the monkey found a nut. A big, beautiful nut.

“That’s mine,” said the snake. “It fell from my part of the tree.”

“No,” said the monkey. “I found it, so it’s mine.”

They began to fight. The monkey threw leaves. The snake hissed and moved fast. They fought all morning, because neither one wanted to lose the nut.

Then a bird flew down, took the nut, and disappeared into the sky.

The monkey and the snake looked up. The nut was gone.

“Well,” said the snake. “At least we still have the tree.”

“Yes,” said the monkey. “Let’s protect the tree, and never fight about nuts again.”

And they didn’t. They fought about leaves instead.