Week 2 Story: What Really Happened to the King of the Himalayas

Once there was a monkey named Bodhisatta. He was raised by a single mother. Growing up, he always wondered why his father did not live with them but his mother would always tell him he was too young to understand. Bodhisatta grew up to be a strong and clever monkey.

"Mother, where is my father?" asked Bodhisatta.

"Son, it is best if you do not know." said his mother.

"But why mother? I am know grown up." replied her son.

She sighed and finally decided that it was time he knew the truth about his father. She explained to him about how he was a power-hungry king of the Himalayas. He was so blinded by power that he even killed his offsprings in fear that they will overthrow him.

She went on to explain how she had run away in order to save her son because she was tired of the grieving from the death of her offspring. Bodhisatta did not say anything for a few minutes and finally replied, "I would like to meet him. Maybe he has changed.",

And so off he went on his journey to the Himalayas to find his father. When he finally got there he noticed a big, strong monkey that looked similar to him and approached him.

"Who goes there!" yelled the King of the Himalayas.

"It is I, your son Bodhisatta." replied Bodhisatta.

The huge monkey took a closer look at Bodhisatta and noticed how similar they looked. Recognition flashed in his eyes with a hint of pain and regret. "It really is you!" cried his father as tears streamed down his face.

"Mother says you are blinded by power but I had to come and see for myself." replied Bodhisatta.

"Your here to kill me aren't you?" said his father in worry and fear.

"Although you have sinned a great amount, I will not kill you." replied Bodhisatta. "You have suffered enough by living a lonely life."

The old monkey looked at his son with awe. "Your mother has raised you well my boy." replied the old monkey. "I admit I have sinned a lot and am paying the consequences. After your mother ran away with you, I realized my mistake. Not a day went by where I did not think about you and your mother." said the old monkey with a voice full of sorrow.

"I shall take you home to her if you wish father." replied his son. The old monkey hesitated but finally replied, "Okay my son, but first I need you to collect some lotuses for me to take home to your mother." replied the old monkey with a hint of excitement.

"Of course, father." replied Bodhisatta.

"But I must warn you, dangers lurk within the lake." warned the old monkey.

And so off the young monkey went to collect lotuses for his father. Being the clever monkey that he is, he grabbed several lotuses as he swung across the green vines of the jungle above the lake as the ogre watched in amazement.

"In all my years of living at this lake, I have never seen such a clever animal" said the ogre. "Please let me help you carry these lotuses."

And so off they went, back to the Himalayas where the King awaited. As they approached the old monkey, they noticed the shock on his face at the sight of the ogre carrying the lotuses.

"Son, what are you thinking?" he exclaimed as he glared at the big, green, and ugly ogre. "That ogre is the enemy."

"Nonsense father. He is my new friend." argued the young monkey.

"It is true.", said the ogre. "You have a clever son. He swung across the green vines of the jungle gathering each and every lotus like a king and I knew I had to help such an amazing creature. Anyone that can get past the dangers of the jungle with such cleverness deserves nothing but respect."

The old monkey contemplated, wondering if the ogre was really sincere with his words or if all of this was just a sham to cause harm to both him and his son. His son is obviously clever. No creature has survived the dangers of the lake. "If Bodhisatta says the ogre is his friend then I must trust his instincts" the father concluded.

Without further discussing the friendship of the ogre and Bodhisatta, the old monkey spoke "Come we must go back to your mother."

And so off the father and son went. The old monkey was anxious to see his long lost wife. "Would she hate me?", he asked himself. "Of course she will! I killed our offspring." thought the old monkey.

"Son are you sure this is a good idea. I do not want to upset your mother." asked the old monkey.

"Yes father, I can tell mother misses you.", replied his son as he thought back to all those times he saw his mother's eyes full of sorrow every time he asked about his father.

The two monkeys had finally arrived back to the home where the young monkey grew up.

"Mother! I have returned!" exclaimed Bodhisatta. The female monkey came rushing out to see her son and her long lost husband. She looked at him in shock before speaking, "Son! What have you done? You have brought a monster back home." she replied look at the old monkey with distrust.

The old monkey looked down with guilt and regret. He knew he deserved his wife's hatred after all of the pain he put her through.

Being the determined young monkey he was, Bodhisatta continued to try and reason with his mother and convince her that his father has changed.

"Mother, I am here and I am alive. He is a changed man. Hasn't he suffered enough by being alone?", replied Bodhisatta. The mother looked at the old monkey once again, and noticed the guilt in his eyes.

"Fine, but to prove that he has changed, he must grant me one wish.",replied his mother. The old monkey looked at his wife and replied eager to gain his wife's trust, "Anything you ask, my dear wife."

"Hand over your throne to Bodhisatta."

"Gladly, I am now an old monkey and cannot run a kingdom." replied the old monkey in happiness. He was finally going to live with his family again.

And so Bodhisatta became the new king of the Himalayas and ran the animal kingdom with his father's help and they all lived happily ever after.

Lotus
(Diego Madrigal)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is based off of the Jatakas story "The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses" In the original story, the characters are monkeys and the son wanted to meet his father. His mother took him to meet him. The father was blinded by power and tried to get his son killed by sending him to gather lotuses but instead, he came back with the ogre who had befriended him which shocked the father to death (literally) and Bodhisatta was chosen to be the new king.

I changed the plot because I felt like there needed to be a happier ending.The father was so blinded by power that he lost the biggest thing that should have mattered to him in the first place, and that was his family.
Bibliography

Chalmers, Robert. The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses. http://thejatakas.blogspot.com/2017/08/0165-monkey-who-gathered-lotuses.html