There was a hat seller

Once upon a time, there was a hat seller.

He traveled from village to village selling hats.

One day, he was walking through the jungle and noticed a comfortable spot at the base of a particular tree.

He decided to rest there, as it was a hot day.

So, he put his basket of hats next to him, pulled his hat over his eyes, and slept.

When he woke up, he felt very refreshed. So he reached for his basket of hats to continue on his way – only to find the basket was empty.

As you may imagine, that seller was distressed, for those hats were his livelihood.

Suddenly, he heard monkeys chattering up in the trees.

He looked up, and lo and behold! There was a family of monkeys, and every so for one of them was wearing a hat!

The hat seller scratched his chin, trying to think of a way to get his hat back.

Amazingly, all of the monkeys scratched their chins!

The hat seller paused.

Then he scratched his head.

All of the monkeys scratched their heads.

The hat seller remembered the phrase, “Monkey see, monkey do.”

Then he had an idea. He took his hat and threw it in the ground.

All of the monkeys threw down their hats, and the hat seller quickly picked up the hats and ran away.

The hat seller remembered this occasion as long as he lived and told the story to all of his children and grandchildren.

Many years later, the hat seller’s grandson was continuing the family tradition of selling hats and just happened to take the same path his grandfather had taken all these years ago.

He spotted the very same tree, and, because it was another hot day, he decided to rest.

So the grandson put down his basket, pulled his hat over his eyes, and slept.

When he woke up, he felt nice and relaxed. So he reached for his basket to continue his travels – only to find it was empty!

And as you may imagine, he was distressed at the loss of his livelihood.

As he searched for the hats, he heard chattering in the trees.

He looked up, and lo and behold! There was a family of monkeys, all of them sporting one of his hats!

The grandson scratched his chin, unsure of what to do. All of the monkeys scratched their chins.

The grandson paused.

Then he scratched his head. All of the monkeys scratched their heads.

The grandson remembered his grandfather’s story.

With one sweep of his hand, he took his hat off of his head and threw it on the ground.

None of the monkeys moved.

Then, one monkey climbed down the tree, slapped the grandson, and said,

“You’re not the only one with a grandfather!”