The Story
One afternoon, two cats were walking near a quiet lane when they found a piece of bread lying on the ground. Both of them saw it at almost the same time. The first cat jumped forward and put one paw on it. The second cat also ran to it and caught the other side. In a moment, the peaceful lane became noisy with their angry voices.
The first cat said that the bread belonged to her because she had seen it first. The second cat said that it belonged to him because he had reached it first. Neither cat wanted to listen. They pulled the bread this way and that way until it broke into two pieces. But even then, the quarrel did not end, because one piece looked a little bigger than the other.
The two cats stared at the pieces and began to argue again. The first cat wanted the bigger piece. The second cat also wanted the bigger piece. Each of them believed that the other was trying to cheat. Their hunger made them impatient, and their anger made them foolish. Instead of eating quietly, they kept shouting at each other.
Just then, a monkey came down from a nearby tree. He had been watching the quarrel for some time. He walked toward the cats with a serious face, as if he were a wise judge. The cats were tired of fighting, so they asked him to help them. The monkey nodded and said that he would divide the bread fairly between them.
The monkey brought out a small balance scale. He placed one piece of bread on one side and the other piece on the other side. The scale dipped down on one side because that piece was heavier. The monkey looked at it carefully and said that the pieces were not equal. Then he picked up the heavier piece and took a bite from it.
After the bite, the monkey placed the piece back on the scale. Now the other side became heavier. The monkey shook his head and said that the balance was still not right. He picked up the new heavier piece and took a bite from that one too. The cats watched him closely, but they said nothing, because they still hoped he would make the pieces equal.
Again and again, the same thing happened. One side became heavier, and the monkey took a bite from it. Then the other side became heavier, and he took a bite from that side. Each bite made the pieces smaller. The cats began to feel worried, but the monkey kept speaking in a calm voice. He told them that a fair division needed patience.
Soon, only two tiny pieces of bread were left on the scale. The cats looked at them with wide eyes. They understood too late that the monkey had been eating their food little by little. One cat asked him to stop. The other cat said that the remaining pieces were small enough and that they would take them as they were.
The monkey looked at the tiny pieces and smiled. He said that he had worked hard to settle their quarrel, so he should receive something for his trouble. Before the cats could protest, he ate the last two pieces as his fee. Then he climbed back into the tree, leaving the cats with nothing at all.
The two cats stood silently on the lane. A few moments earlier, they had enough bread to share. But because they could not trust each other, they had lost everything. They walked away hungry and ashamed, remembering how their quarrel had given the clever monkey a chance to take the whole piece for himself.
