The Barber Who Killed the King
Panchatantra Stories · 1 min read
A king once kept a pet monkey who loved him deeply and stood guard whenever the king slept in the garden. One afternoon, a bee landed on the sleeping king's chest, and the monkey, terrified it might sting him, snatched up the king's own sword and swung it down to kill the insect. It worked — the bee died instantly, and so, tragically, did the king, from the blow that struck him along with it.
A barber who had witnessed the entire scene from a distance thought to himself, "If even a foolish monkey with a sword can defend a sleeping king, surely I, a trained man with steady hands, could guard the next one far better."
Some time later, serving a different lord who had fallen asleep with a fly buzzing near his nose, the barber decided to prove himself. He raised his own razor and struck at the fly with confidence — and killed the sleeping lord just as surely as the monkey had killed the first.
Moral of the story
Copying someone else's foolish shortcut rarely turns out better the second time.