There once lived a group of monkeys in a jungle. An old monkey was the chief of the group and he ruled them wisely and well. One day, the chief's wife had a wish, "Husband, I think we should all go on a fast." "Why?" he asked. "For the well-being of all the monkeys," she replied. Although the chief was not very enthused, he agreed.
He called all the monkeys together to make the announcement. "My friends, today we shall all fast for the well-being of everyone. So, no one will eat a bite of food today!" All the monkeys readily agreed. "Whatever you say, chief!" they chorused.
The chief thought for a moment. "When we break our fast, we will all be ravenous. So, I suggest we find food and keep it ready to eat when the fast is over." The monkeys thought this was an excellent idea. Several of them set off to find food. They climbed trees and explored until they came upon a banana tree. Chattering excitedly, they plucked many delicious yellow bananas and returned home.
"Good work! Now we will have enough food to break our fast with," said the pleased chief. All the bananas were placed under a tree. "Shall we all prey before we begin our fast？" suggested a monkey.
They all sat around silently, praying. A thought struck the chief's wife. "When we break the fast, we will all be so hungry that we will all pounce on the bananas together. Perhaps, we should distribute each one's share beforehand to save time later." The Chief thought this was a brilliant suggestion. He appointed a monkey to distribute the bananas equally among all the monkeys.
Each monkey came up to the pile and collected his or her share of the bananas. Then each of them sat down in his or her place, waiting for evening. They chanted prayers for a while. Slowly, the sight of the juicy bananas got too much for some of the young ones. Finally, one youngster stood up. "Sir, why don't we keep one banana ready to eat? Then we can save some more time," he suggested. The chief was pleased with the idea. "What a lovely idea! Our group is filled with intelligent monkeys! Everyone peel a banana and keep it ready!" So, all the monkeys peeled one banana and kept it ready in their hands.
By now the temptation of a peeled banana in their hands was too much to bear. One by one the monkeys started getting impatient. But no one dared to disobey the chief. The chief himself was getting impatient and hungry. "This fast was not such a great idea. Why did I listen to my wife? When will evening come?" he mused.
Suddenly, a baby monkey said to his father, "Father, can I keep the banana in my mouth? I promise not to eat!" The father was not sure, he asked the chief, "He won't eat it," he promised. The chief thought this was a good idea for everyone.
"All right! Everyone can place the banana in his or her mouth. This way the moment the fast is over, we can chew it and swallow it. But under no circumstances should you eat it! He instructed.
"As long as we don't eat it, it's fine," agreed the baby monkey's father. One by one the monkeys put bananas in their mouths. They looked at each other comfortably as they continued the fast.
Before they knew it, they were biting into the delicious bananas! And shortly afterwards all the bananas had disappeared down their stomachs! So much for a day of fasting! But on the brighter side, the monkeys definitely looked happy and satisfied!
解 說
很久以前，有一群猴子住在叢林中。其中一隻老猴子「酋長」帶領群猴，他以明智的方式治理，大夥相處融洽。有一天，酋長的妻子突然有一個心願：「老公，我想大家都應該一起禁食。」 「為什麼？」酋長問， 「為了所有猴子們的身體健康啊！」酋長太太回答。雖然意願不高，猴子酋長還是同意了。
牠召集所有的猴子，宣布當天的計畫 ：「朋友們，為了大家的身體健康，今天我們禁食，所以，每隻猴子在今天結束前，一口食物也不能吃！」所有的猴子異口同聲地爽快答應：「你說什麼我們都照辦，老大。」
猴子酋長想了一會兒說：當禁食結束時，我們都會饑腸轆轆，所以，我建議大家先尋找食物，並準備好，禁食結束時可以大家一起開動。所有的猴子都認為這是一個極好的主意，於是有幾隻猴子出發去找食物。牠們爬高鑽低、四處探索，終於找到結實纍纍的香蕉樹。猴子們興奮地嘰嘰喳喳，摘下很多好吃的黃澄澄香蕉回家。
「做得好！當禁食結束時，我們將有足夠的食物對抗饑餓了！」猴老大高興的說。所有的香蕉被堆放在一棵樹下，一隻猴子提議：「我們是不是應該在禁食開始之前先禱告？」
猴子都圍坐在樹下，默默祈禱。酋長太太猛然想起：「當我們開齋，大家都將非常的餓，也許，我們應該先分配每個人的配額，節省時間。猴老大認為這個建議「太棒了」，於是任命一隻猴子平均分配所有的香蕉。
每隻猴子都走自己的那堆香蕉之前，坐了下來，等待著傍晚開齋，牠們祈禱了一會兒。慢慢地，香甜多汁的香蕉對於那些年輕的猴子誘惑實在太大。終於，一位年輕猴子站起來建議：「酋長先生，我們為什麼不準備好一根「立即可吃」的香蕉？這樣一來，我們又可以節省一些時間。」猴老大對這「年輕人」的想法感到高興：「多麼討喜的主意，我們的團隊真是充滿智慧！」於是命令大家「剝好一根香蕉，並握在手中」，所有的猴子一起動手，手上都握好一根剝皮香蕉。
禁食進行到了這裡，手中的的去皮香蕉散發著幽香，猴子們一個接一個的開始變得不耐煩，但沒有誰敢違抗猴老大的命令。自己也餓得不耐煩的猴老大說：「 這個『禁食』真不是個好主意，為什麼我要聽老婆的？傍晚要等到什麼時候？」他若有所思地說著。
突然，一個猴寶寶對牠的父親說：「爸爸，我可以把香蕉放在嘴裡嗎？我保證不會吃下去！」牠爸爸不知可否，於是牠詢問猴子酋長：「牠不會吃下去，可以嗎？」猴老大答應了，而且認為這是個不錯的辦法。
「好啦！大家都可以將香蕉放進嘴裡，這樣，等禁食的時刻快結束時，我們可以馬上咀嚼和吞嚥它。但在任何情況下，都不可以吃下去！」猴老大指示。
「只要我們不嚥下去，就沒問題吧。」猴寶寶的父親說完，就這麼做了。
猴子們也一個接一個的，把香蕉放進嘴裡，牠們面面相覷，舒服地繼續「禁食」。
不知不覺地，美味的香蕉從齒縫間擠碎，沒多久，所有的香蕉都消失在猴子們的肚子了。一天「禁食」就如此這般的混過去了，但往好的方面看，每一隻猴子看起來都很高興、滿意！
提 要
英文有句諺語：「Easier said than done」，意思是指某人只會用嘴說說，真的要動手做的時候，就會找很多藉口推拖，磨蹭半天也不開始。相對於這句的諺語則是: 「Actions speak louder than words」、「Deeds, not words.」（坐而言，不如起而行。）