There was once a hat-seller who passed by a forest on his way back from town. The weather was very hot and he decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so he left his whole basket of hats on the ground nearby. A few hours later, he was awakened by some sounds. The next thing he realized was that all his hats were gone. Then he heard some monkeys on top of the tree and he looked up. To his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys. They had taken all his hats!
The hat-seller sits down and tries to think of how he can get the hats down. As he was thinking, he started to scratch his head. The next moment, he realized that the monkeys were doing the same action.
Next, he took down his own hat and fanned himself. The monkeys did exactly the same! An idea strike him – he took his hat and threw it on the ground. And the monkeys did the same. At last, he managed to get all his hats back.
Fifty years later, his grandson also became a hat-seller and had heard this monkey story from his grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest. Feeling very hot, he took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the ground. Again, when he woke up, he realized that all his hats were gone. He looked up and found that the monkeys had taken all his hats.
Remembering what his grandfather had told him, he started scratching his head and the monkeys followed. He took down his hat and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed. Now, very convinced of his grandfather’s idea, he threw his hat on the ground, but to his surprise the monkeys still held on to all the hats!
Then one monkey climbed down the tree, picked the hat from the ground, gave him a slap and said, "You think that you’re the only one who ever had a grandfather???"