Carpenters were sawing a large log to build a temple. At lunchtime they left the log half-split, with a wooden wedge stuck in the cut to keep it open.

A troop of monkeys came to play. One curious monkey sat on the log, right over the split, and began tugging at the wedge. "What is this thing?" he wondered, pulling harder and harder.

Suddenly the wedge came free. The two halves of the log snapped shut — trapping the monkey's tail. He howled in pain, and learnt his lesson the hard way.