The rainy season that year had been the heaviest ever and the rivers had
broken their banks. There were floods everywhere and the animals were all
running up into the hills. The floods came so fast that many drowned except the
lucky monkeys who used their proverbial agility to climb up into the treetops.
They looked down on the surface of the water where the fish were swimming and
gracefully jumping out of the water as if they were the only ones enjoying the
devastating flood.

One of the monkeys saw the fish and shouted to his companion: “Look down, my
friend, look at those poor creatures. They are going to drown. Do you see how
they struggle in the water?” “Yes,” said the other monkey. “What a pity!
Probably they were late in escaping to the hills because they seem to have no
legs. How can we save them?” “I think we must do something. Let’s go close to
the edge of the flood where the water is not deep enough to cover us, and we can
help them to get out.”

So the monkeys did just that. They started catching the fish, but not without
difficulty. One by one, they brought them out of the water and put them
carefully on the dry land. After a short time there was a pile of fish lying on
the grass motionless. One of the monkeys said, “Do you see? They were tired, but
now they are just sleeping and resting. Had it not been for us, my friend, all
these poor people without legs would have drowned.” The other monkey said: “They
were trying to escape from us because they could not understand our good
intentions. But when they wake up they will be very grateful because we have
brought them salvation.”