Monkeys Cutting Out Monkeys
A Parable
There once was a village of monkeys who kept themselves busy with those tasks by which monkeys make a living: collecting fruit, peeling fruit, finding shelter, cleaning up around the monkey-village, tending to the little monkeys, etc. The monkeys were mostly happy, but for monkeys as for people, working for a living can be tiring and often tedious.
One day a wizened old wizard monkey arrived at the monkey village and showed them a trick. He cut a monkey out of a banana leaf; the banana-leaf monkey immediately went to work collecting fruit, which lightened the load somewhat for the monkeys.
The grateful monkeys asked the monkey-wizard if he would mind cutting out another banana-leaf monkey to lighten their workload even more, and he said sure, he’d be happy to do that. He cut out another fruit-collector, then another, and then the monkeys asked him if he would be able to cut out a monkey that could peel fruit, and the wizard said of course, nothing could be easier. So he cut out a couple of fruit-peeler monkeys, then a monkey that specialized in caring for little monkeys, then a monkey-of-all-work who could clean up around the village and do light repairs.
The monkey-villagers were loving their new, easier lifestyle, but the poor monkey-wizard was getting pretty exhausted trying to keep up with their requests for more banana-leaf monkeys. He often got cramps in his cutting hand. So when the monkeys asked him to teach them how to cut out banana-leaf monkeys for themselves, he was happy to oblige.
Once the monkey-villagers were able cut out their own banana-leaf monkeys, production skyrocketed. They cut out more fruit-collecting monkeys, more fruit-peeling monkeys, more monkeys-of-all-work and handy-monkeys. They cut out monkeys whose only job was to take the fruit from the fruit-peeling monkeys and put put it in the mouths of the village-monkeys.
Before long it was hard to find sufficient banana leaves to keep up with the demand for banana-leaf monkeys. But that was an easy fix: the monkeys cut out new monkeys who specialized in collecting banana leaves.
Cutting out all those monkeys was work, sure, but it wasn’t as much work as collecting fruit or peeling fruit or putting fruit in your own mouth or cleaning up after yourself or taking care of your own babies or picking up a birthday gift for your wife. Soon, however, the village-monkeys decided that even cutting out monkeys was too much work. So they cut out monkeys who specialized in cutting out monkeys.
Once the banana-leaf monkeys took over the work of cutting out more banana-leaf monkeys, there was no reason for the village-monkeys to anything. All they had to do was to sit in their houses and tell the banana-leaf monkeys what to do. But even telling the banana-leaf monkeys what to do required some mental and emotional energy. The monkeys’ last idea was their best idea yet: they told the banana-leaf monkeys to make new banana-leaf monkeys whose job would be to tell the banana-leaf monkeys what to do.
I heard a version of the banana-leaf monkey story on an NPR radio show twenty-five or thirty years ago, but the Internet doesn’t seem to know anything about it. If you know a source for this story, would you let me know in the comments below?
The story came back to mind for the first time in years when I came across this poem by Joseph Fasano:
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now.
I know your days are precious
on this earth.
But what are you trying
to be free of?
The living? The miraculous
task of it?
Love is for the ones who love the work.
In other news…I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry
My friends over at Bandersnatch books have just launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new anthology of children’s poems called I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry. I contributed some new feechie riddles to the collection, but here’s what makes me really proud: Of the sixty-two poets included in the anthology, thirty-two are connected with The Habit Membership.
If you want to help bring something beautiful into the world (and have your own copy of something beautiful), check out the Kickstarter page. And tell your friends.
In this week’s episode of The Banderpod, editor Rachel Donahue tells the full story of the origins of I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry.
March 16-20. The Focus Retreat, at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville. There’s ONE spot left. Get more information and register here.
Virtual Writing Rooms on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Tuesday: Week 5 Meeting of Writing Through the Wardrobe—The Horse and His Boy (included in membership)
Wednesday Afternoon: Habitations Poetry Group
Submission Window is open for The Habit Portfolio
There's a place for you in this vibrant community of writers. Find out more about The Habit Membership here.
Charlie Peacock’s Roots and Rhythm
Charlie Peacock is a legendary musician, producer, and songwriter. His impact on the music industry spans decades. A Grammy-winning producer and a visionary artist, he's worked with some of the most influential names in music. But even more importantly, Charlie is known for his generosity and hospitality, pouring into the lives and work of artists through the Art House and other creative endeavors. His passion for nurturing talent and fostering deep artistic and spiritual conversations has shaped countless musicians and writers. In his new memoir, Roots and Rhythm, he shares his own journey, offering a rich reflection on music, faith, and the creative life.
In this episode, Charlie and I talk about success, identity, embracing failure and suffering, and navigating more than one economy at a time.
This is so thought-provoking. The rise of AI often makes me think of something G.K. Chesterton wrote— that some things should be left to professionals, but that professionals shouldn’t do our living for us. There’s a happy independence in “writing one's own love-letters or blowing one's own nose. These things we want a man to do for himself, even if he does them badly.”
Ha! Surely you're not surprised that "the internet doesn't seem to know anything about it"!
"happy independence" as reader E.V. McCall mentions is under increasingly aggressive attack. It's a scary world - but, hallelujah! we know Who has ultimate control and victory.