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Overview
A monkey leader mistakes the moon’s reflection in a well for the fallen celestial body. The troop forms a chain, holding a tree branch and one another’s tails to retrieve it. Their weight bends and breaks the branch; disturbed water hides the reflection and the monkeys fall into the well and are injured. The moon itself never falls, and the text does not say that the whole troop dies. A deity’s closing verse criticizes foolish leadership.
Origins & earliest records
Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation
Records & interpretation
Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.
In the literature
“all the monkeys fell into the well”
XLV The Monkeys and the Moon, hosted printed-page marker353 · W.R.S.Ralston, English from Schiefner’s German Tibetan translation
The failed attempted retrieval ends in a fall; the source describes damage without explicitly saying all die.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
XLV, The Monkeys and the Moon, p. 353; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 249
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XLV The Monkeys and the Moon
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)
XLV, The Monkeys and the Moon. XLV, The Monkeys and the Moon, p. 353; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 249
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 monkey leader mistakes the moon’s reflection in a well for the fallen moon. The troop forms a hanging chain to retrieve it. The branch bends, the disturbed water loses its reflection, then the branch breaks and all fall into the well, damaged. The actual moon neither falls nor is rescued, and death is not stated.
XLV The Monkeys and the Moon, complete353; note Kah-gyuriv.f249
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), XLV, The Monkeys and the Moon, p. 353; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 249Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.