Monkeys – Punyakante Wijenaike

More on the writer of this short story, Punyakante Wijenaike. 

(http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/punyakantewijenaike.html)

This short story narrates the life of a young Samanera (Buddhist monk in training) and his love towards the monkeys in the forest nearby which he visits every afternoon. The boy carries a bit of food with him every time he visits the forest. He feeds the monkeys and plays with them. Love, is what he experiences every time he spends time with the monkeys. At the time of departure he hates leaving the monkeys as he has to go back and complete the chores at the hermitage. Waking up early at 4 every morning to meditate and then complete the chores only to leave later on to beg for food and in the end come back to the monkeys. This was the monotonous life he led every day. The thought of being a monkey seemed to please him as the love the moneys shared between themselves is what he longed for.

One night, as he was bating he saw his own reflection in the water to be that of a monkey, only to realize after distorting the still water that it was just a trick of the mind. Later, when the boy was sweeping the compound with a broom, he noticed that the same monkeys had followed him there and were sitting on the treetops.

The same monkeys, in hordes, had followed him to the hermitage and this time they boldly started jumping and running in the hermitage disturbing the priests out of their morning meditation. The monkeys created a havoc by throwing the fruits grown by the chief priest around and ringing the temple bells.

After this incident, the Chief Priest led the young Samanera to an inner room. He made him understand the difference between men and animals. And how the life of a Samanera differed from those of animals and other human beings. At the end of the story he looks back at the rock and the trees for the last time and turns away, as now he must remember that after all he is a man.

The prevalent themes in the poem are that of love and humanity. Throughout the poem love acts as a constant as the young boy craves it but never shows it. The life of a Samanera and the sacrifices involved in leading such a life are ones to be thought of very carefully. Abandoning the essence of human life i.e love, to break the cycle of rebirth seems to be the effective conclusion of the life of a Samanera.

As the boy longed for love, he had to be told in the end that it is not the kind of life he could lead. Having peace within oneself is what is necessary as compared to love and other petty functions of life.