The Weaver-Birds and the Monkeys

Beside a little stream that runs down to the great Narmada river there stood a tall silk-cotton tree. A whole family of weaver-birds lived in it. They had woven their round nests out of grass and hung them from the branches, and they were cosy inside them whatever the weather.

Then the rainy season came. The sky was covered with clouds as dark as indigo cloth, and down came the rain in buckets.

The birds peeped out of their dry nests. Below, standing under a tree, they saw some monkeys. The monkeys were soaking wet, shivering with cold and very hungry.

“Tweet, tweet, you monkeys!” chirped the birds. “Listen to us! We built these nests with nothing but our beaks, from bits of grass we found lying about. You have hands and feet. Build yourselves a house, or else stay out in the rain!”

The monkeys did not like that one bit.

“Ho, ho!” they grumbled. “Listen to those birds, sitting snug in their nests and making fun of us! Just wait until this rain is over.”

And as soon as the weather cleared, the monkeys climbed up into the silk-cotton tree. They broke every one of the birds’ eggs, and they pulled down every single nest.

The birds lost their shelter and eggs because the monkeys answered an unwelcome remark with destruction.

About this tale

This fable is retold from Edwin Arnold’s English Hitopadesha, The Book of Good Counsels, found in the anthology Hindu Literature (Project Gutenberg #13268). In Arnold’s book a crane tells it to his king. He had tried to give good advice to the subjects of a rival king and was scolded for it, and he says he should have known better, like the weaver-birds.

A related advice tale in Arthur W. Ryder’s Panchatantra, “The Unteachable Monkey”, has a bird called Needle-Face warning monkeys who mistake a firefly for fire. It ends with the bird being killed. That is a different episode from the nesting weaver-birds and destroyed eggs in Arnold’s telling here.

Read the original: Arnold, The Book of Good Counsels, in the Hindu Literature anthology (Project Gutenberg #13268)

Reading guidance: Ages 9–12; includes deliberate destruction of nests and eggs. Discuss responsibility for retaliation as well as the tone of advice.

A closer reading

The birds’ comparison—beaks versus hands—makes their advice sound like a reproach. They speak from dry nests to animals who are hungry and cold, so timing and tone matter. But explaining why the monkeys feel insulted does not justify destroying homes and eggs.

The framing crane uses the tale to defend his own warning about giving advice. Readers can question that lesson: silence is not always better than helping, and a listener remains responsible for a violent response. A more useful distinction is between offering practical help and displaying superiority.

Try this with the story

Rewrite the birds’ speech twice: as a respectful offer and as a boast. Keep the facts about rain and nest-building the same. Then explain why neither version would make destroying the nests acceptable.

Talk about it

• Which words make the birds sound superior?
• What help might be useful during the rain?
• Why does feeling insulted not excuse the monkeys’ destruction?

More stories like this

• The Sparrow And The Crow — another tale about birds and their nest
• The Monkey With The Tom Tom — another story about a monkey
• The Story of the Tortoise and the Geese — another fable from Arnold’s Hitopadesha