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businessDec 22, 20253:21pending

A Japanese Legend With A Lesson For Life

About this episode

There’s an old fable I love about a villager trying to catch a monkey.


He doesn’t use force. He doesn’t set a net. He doesn’t try to chase it.


Instead, he hooks a single coconut to the side of his house, drills a small hole in it, and places a few morsels of food inside.


That evening at dusk, the monkey quietly slips into the village. It sees the coconut, smells the food, and slips its open hand into the hole.


It feels the food and grabs hold of it excitedly. But when it tries to remove its hand, it can’t.


The hole is just wide enough for an open palm, but not a clenched fist.


The stubborn monkey refuses to let go of the food—and therefore, resigns itself to its own fate.


The villager’s clever trap has worked…

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A Japanese Legend With A Lesson For Life

Curiosity Chronicle

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