A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A troop of five hundred monkeys wants fruit from a heavily laden kimpāka tree near a village. Its chief reasons that local children would already have eaten safe fruit and leads them away. A second chief lets his own five hundred followers eat it, and they suffer agonies. The account states suffering, not the death of every monkey, and gives neither chief a personal name or a miraculous detection power.
Origins & earliest records
Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation
Records & interpretation
Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
XLIV, The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs, p. 352; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 247
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XLIV The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XL–XLIX344–359 and all notes independently read. Tibetan/German source-language originals not collated; footnoted comparisons not promoted to separately inspected works.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)
XLIV, The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs. XLIV, The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs, p. 352; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 247
Complete chapter and all notes read. Translation’s canonical locator retained; original Tibetan not independently inspected. Actual endings, explicit identities and comparative material kept separate, with no death/kinship/anatomy inferred beyond the telling.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XL–XLIX344–359 and all notes independently read. Tibetan/German source-language originals not collated; footnoted comparisons not promoted to separately inspected works.
- A weary monkey troop finds abundant kimpāka fruit beside a village. Its chief notices that local children have not eaten it and refuses the tempting meal. A second chief permits his troop to eat; they suffer agonies. The account contrasts an observed warning sign with indiscriminate acceptance, without explicitly saying the second troop dies.
XLIV The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs, complete352; note Kah-gyuriv.f247
Historical German-mediated English rendering; Tibetan originals and footnoted comparative works not independently collated. Page labels from hosted transcription. Religious/moral assertions remain narrative framing. No verse, ritual, prayer, medical preparation or modern adaptation copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XLIV, The Wise and the Foolish Monkey Chiefs, p. 352; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 247Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.