Monkey and Bell Story!!

A village was situated on the edge of the forest which was prosperous and the people of the village were leading a peaceful life.

The villagers had built a temple in the middle of the village, where they used to worship every day. There was a big bell at the entrance of the temple.

One night, a thief stole the temple bell and fled toward the forest.

When the thief was running in the forest, the bell was ringing and its sound was spreading far and wide. A tiger who was roaming nearby heard the sound of that bell and started following the sound out of curiosity.

The thief was already very tired while running from the village to the forest. So, he sat under a tree to relax. At that moment, the lion also reached there and killed the thief. The bell fell there.

Next day, a herd of monkeys passed by that place. When they saw that bell, one of those monkeys picked it up and took it with him. Monkeys found the melodious sound of the bell very interesting and started playing with it.

Often, monkeys used to gather at night and used to play with that bell by ringing it. Unaware of the reason behind the sound of the bell coming from the forest at night, villagers found it very strange.

One day everyone decided that the secret of the bell ringing in the night has to be known. So, they prepared a young man from the village and sent him to the forest to check the cause. When the young man went to the forest, he saw the skeleton of the thief.

The young man got scared and ran back to the village and told everyone that some ghost is roaming in the forest, who kills people and then rings the bell.

The villagers believed his words without thinking. This news spread like wildfire in the whole village. The atmosphere of fear prevailed in the village. Slowly the people of that village started migrating to other villages.

When the King of the state came to know that the people of a village in his state were migrating from there, he made it known throughout the state that the person who would drive away the ghost roaming in the forest, will be given a suitable award.

This announcement of the King was also heard by an old woman living in the same village. She believed that the ghost was just a rumour. One night she went out to the forest alone. There she saw a group of monkeys who were playing by ringing the bell.

The old woman understood the secret of the sound of the bell ringing in the night. She came back to the village.

The next day, she went to King and said, "I can drive away the ghost wandering in the forest but for that, a ritual had to be organized to bring that evil spirit under control, for which I will need some money."

King instantly arranged money for the old woman. With that money, she bought some peanuts, grams, and fruits and made a circle in the temple premises keeping all the food items inside the circle, and started praying to God.

After doing this for some time, she picked up all the food items and went to the forest. After reaching the forest, she put all the food items under a tree and hid herself behind a tree, waiting for the monkeys to come.

After some time a group of monkeys came there and when they saw a lot of food items, they threw the bell aside and ran to eat them. While monkeys were eating peanuts, gram, and fruits with great pleasure. Meanwhile, getting the opportunity, the old woman picked up the bell and came to the King's palace.

Handing over the bell to the King, she said, "That evil spirit has left this bell and fled from the forest. The villagers have nothing to fear now."

King was very pleased with the bravery of the old woman and gave her the award. From that day on wards, the villagers never heard the sound of the bell and they started living happily again.

Flash: Believing in rumours without proper research is never a good idea. As good things take time, to make the right decision you need to get to the root cause of problems rather than believing in someone's make-shift story. In the story, villagers can be seen readily embracing the notion of a ghost inhabiting the forest, without personally investigating the claim. Even the king merely echoed merely the villagers' beliefs. No one tried to go to the forest and find the truth with their own eyes.

Moral: Making a decision when you're unsure is never a good option. If you believe in something without any good reason, it can make you ignorant and keep you from discovering the real truth. It's like being blind to the actual reality.

"One should not reach any decision blindly without thinking."