a wise man is worthy to be advised; but an ignorant one never. certain birds, having given advice to a troop of monkeys, have their nests torn to pieces, and are obliged to fly away.

on the banks of the river navmoda, upon a neighbouring mountain, there was a large salmalee tree wherein certain birds were wont to build their nests and reside, even during the season of the rains. one day the sky being overcast with a troop of thick dark clouds, there fell a shower of rain in very large streams. the birds seeing a troop of monkeys at the foot of the tree, all wet, and shivering with cold, called out to them; "ho, monkeys! why don't you invent something to protect you from the rain? we build ourselves nests with straws collected with nothing else but our bills. how is this, that you, who are blessed with hands and feet, yield to such sufferings?"

the monkeys hearing this, and understanding it as a kind of reproach, were exceedingly irritated and said amongst themselves: "those birds there, sitting comfortably out of the wind within their warm nests, are laughing at us! so let them, as long as the shower may last." in short, as soon as the rain subsided, the whole troop of them mounted into the tree, where tearing all the nests to pieces, the eggs fell upon the ground and were broken. i say, therefore: "a wise man is worthy to be advised, but an ignorant one never."