Once there lived a group of monkeys in a forest. During the winter, they were unable to stand the severe cold and heavy rains. One evening they found a firefly and believed it to be fire, so lifted it with care, covered it with dry grass and leaves, thrust forward their arms, scratched themselves, and enjoyed imagining that they were warm. One of them in particular, being especially chilly, blew repeatedly and with concentrated attention on the firefly.
Watching their vain effort in amusement, Suchimukha, a bird, flew down from her tree and said to the monkey, “My dear sir, do not put yourself to unnecessary trouble. This is not fire. This is a firefly. This will not save you from cold. Go and look for a shelter in a cave or a place free from wind. The clouds are thick and there will be no immediate relief from rain.” The monkey, however, did not heed her warning but blew again, nor did he stop when she tried more than once to correct him.
Finally angered by the repeated uncalled for advice, the monkey said, “You stupid, why do you poke your nose in our affairs? Go away. Haven’t the elders said that one should offer advice only to those who seek it and value it? Furthermore, he who cherishes his welfare should not talk to a gambler or an inefficient workman.”
Disregarding the old monkey’s anger and not giving room to any other monkey to talk, Suchimukha went on repeating her advice to them to seek shelter elsewhere. Tired with the bird’s unwanted advice, one of the monkeys sprang at the bird and bashed her against a rock, thereby killing her on the spot.
