The Monkey and the Stolen Beans

A Monkey had a fine farm of beans. Every night, a thief was stealing them. To catch the thief, the Monkey made a doll out of sticky rubber and placed it in the middle of his farm. That night, the Hyena came to steal beans. He saw the rubber doll and said, "Who are you? Get out of my way!" The doll did not move. The Hyena, being arrogant and quick to anger, punched the doll. His paw got stuck. "Let me go!" he shouted, and he hit it with his other paw, which also got stuck. He kicked and bit the doll until he was completely trapped. The next morning, the Monkey found him. He called all the other animals to come and see the foolish thief. The Hyena was so ashamed that he could never look the other animals in the eye again. However, the next night, the clever Hare came to the farm. He saw the doll and greeted it politely. When it did not answer, he did not get angry. He simply walked around it and ate his fill of beans, leaving the sticky trap undisturbed. The moral is that while brute force and anger lead to entrapment, quiet cleverness can often bypass the obstacle entirely.