The Foolish Monkeys

Once there lived a righteous King. He was wise and noble. One day, the king decided to meditate. So he asked all people of the city to go on a holiday. His subjects were thrilled. 

When the gardener who managed the royal gardens heard about it, he sighed thinking,"Today, all my friends in the city would go merry making and enjoy the holiday. I wish could join them, but the entire garden needs to be watered. I cannot even ignore watering the garden as it is extremely hot and all plants require water necessarily".

He became sad and sat down. A baby monkey came running near him and passed by reading him. Suddenly the gardener of up on his feet and went in direction of thick trees. He made a  unique hooting, screeching sound.

The gardener waited under a mango tree until an old monkey appeared and greeted him. The old monkey was the head of a troop of monkeys who dwelled on the far trees in the royal garden. 

The gardener said, "O great monkey! I hope your tribe is enjoying living in this royal garden. There is peace all around here. There is fear of any attack. You get the first and best if season's harvest. Indeed you are fortunate to be here".

The old monkey nodded in agreement. He asked, "How can I help you friend?"

The gardener continued, "I understand that your tribe has many members and they are idle during most part of the day. The king has been generous today. He has given a holiday to people of city to relax and enjoy themselves. I want to join my friends in the city, but the plants require water in the evening. Will you ask your people to water the plants in my absence. Only if you assure me, that I'll be able to go and join my friends".

The old monkey replied, "Friend, your hard work brings us good fruits to enjoy. We are thankful to you and to king to let us live here. Our tribe has many young monkeys who can handle the task of watering - you need not worry. We shall water the plants in the evening. Go and enjoy the day with your friends".

The garden cautioned the old monkey, "Friend,  plants require a water balance. Since the heat is intense, water them amply but do not over water as it will perish and ossen the roots".

The gardener took the old monkey across the garden and showed him the saplings, young trees which required water. After this, he thanked the old monkey and left for the city to enjoy the day with his friends. 

The day passed by. In the twilght, the old monkey took a group of young monkeys to the main garden for watering. He instructed them, "Ensure that each plant has sufficient water".

A young monkey blinked and asked, "Grandpa, how do we decide that a plant had sufficient water?"

Now the old monkey was in a fix. He had no clue about the varied water requirements. He thought for a while and said, "You need to check the roots of each plant to decide how much water each of them need. So uproot each of them and look at their roots. If the roots are dense and long, give ample amount of water. If the roots are short and stunted provide them with little water".

The young monkeys asked no further questions and jumped apart to begin their work. They began by uprooting the plants. When all plants were uprooted, they began watering the plants. The monkeys water the open roots. They excessively watered the plants with longer roots and sparsely watered those with shorter roots. The water logged the entire channels in the garden and soon the entire garden was slity and flooded. The monkeys thought the watering was concluded and happily returned to their tree homes. 

Next day, when the gardener came back, he cried woes seeing the dead plants