Rex simiarum: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:53, 10 March 2026

The town of Hamadan is surrounded by mountains where a great troupe of monkeys live. The monkeys are ruled by a wise king named Ruzbef, who is a clever and insightful leader. One day, while sitting on a rock above the town, guarding the troupe, he sees a ram playful butting a woman in the town square. Ruzbef calls his companions, and tells them that he has seen something strange, and that it signifies that ill fortune is headed their way. He tells the troupe that they must gather everything they need, collect their children, and leave at once. The rest of the monkeys cannot understand this, and reply that there is no need to worry. Ruzbef then asks for their obedience, saying saying that he has a duty to protect them as their king, and together with his mate and their young, he prepares to leave. The other monkeys refuse to follow him, however, and once Ruzbef has left, they choose a new leader.

A few days later, the ram again playfully butts the same woman, but this time she is struck by its horns. Angry, the woman throws a stone at the ram’s head, knocking it out cold. When the ram wakes up, it remembers the blow; when it sees the woman nearby, it rushes at her in a fury. The woman is carrying a torch, and she strikes out at the ram with it to fend off the attack. The ram's wool catches fire. Panicked, the ram begins to run, and stumbles into the king's elephant enclosure where it tries to put out the fire by rolling around on the bundles of reeds. However, the reeds themselves start to burn as well, and soon the fire spreads throughout the enclosure, burning some of the elephants to death and injuring many others. The king, grieved by the news, calls his elephant keeper, who advises him that the best cure for the elephants' burns is monkey fat, applied to their skin every day until they heal. The king orders his men to hunt down all the monkeys on the mountain, take their fat and apply it to the elephants. A large group of soldiers set out on the hunt up the mountain, and when the monkeys demand to know why they must be killed, the soldiers explain the sequence of events, starting with the ram and the woman. The monkeys understand that this is the ill fortune their king had foreseen, and that their deaths are the consequences of their lack of faith in his leadership.

Critical Literature

Nishimura (2001)

Rex simiarum appears in the following versions and secondary versions

	Has Language Of Version	Has Branch Of Tradition	Is Adapted From
Persian Sindbadnama	Persian	Book of Sindbad

Rex simiarum is narrated in the following occurrences

Narrator	Pages
First Master	Https://db.seven-sages-of-rome.org/Zahiri al Samarqandi, Sindbadnama, Https://db.seven-sages-of-rome.org/index.php?title=Zahiri al Samarqandi, Sindbadnama&action=formedit, Persian Sindbadnama, Zahiri al Samarqandi, Sindbadnama

Rex simiarum appears in the following manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Siglum Of The Version Of The Seven Sages	Has Language Group Within Version

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 {{Inset Story
-|Has Summary=The town of Hamadan is surrounded by mountains where a great troupe of monkeys live. The monkeys are ruled by a wise king named Ruzbef, who is a clever and insightful leader.  One day, while sitting on a rock above the town, guarding the troupe, he saw a ram playful butting a woman in the town square.town and called his companions, telling them that it was a strange thing and that something bad is going to happen, and that they should gather the women and children and leave the town. When the monkeys say that there is nothing to worry about, Ruzbef asks them to obey him, saying that he has a duty to protect them all, so he gathers his wife and children and moves to another place. But the other monkeys do not obey and choose another king. A few days later, during a game, the ram pokes a woman with its horns. The woman, angry, throws a stone at the sheep’s head, and the sheep faints. The sheep resents the woman and rushes at her when it sees her by the wall. The woman has a fire wood, so she hits the sheep with it, and the sheep’s wool starts to burn. Panicked, the sheep run into the enclosure where the elephants are and try to put out the fire by rolling around on the bundles of reeds, but the reeds start to burn and the fire soon spreads throughout the enclosure, burning some of the elephants to death and burning others. The king, grieved by the news, calls the elephant trainer, who advises him to apply monkey fat to the elephants every day until they heal. The king ordered his men to kill all the monkeys on the mountain, take their fat and apply it to the elephants. A large group of soldiers enter the mountain, and when the monkeys, at a loss, cry out why they should kill us, the soldiers explain the reason, starting with the ram and the woman. The monkeys say that this is what happens to them because they despise the king and disobey him.
+|Has Short Description=The Monkey King
+|Has Critical Literature=Nishimura (2001)
+|Has Summary=The town of Hamadan is surrounded by mountains where a great troupe of monkeys live. The monkeys are ruled by a wise king named Ruzbef, who is a clever and insightful leader. One day, while sitting on a rock above the town, guarding the troupe, he sees a ram playful butting a woman in the town square. Ruzbef calls his companions, and tells them that he has seen something strange, and that it signifies that ill fortune is headed their way. He tells the troupe that they must gather everything they need, collect their children, and leave at once. The rest of the monkeys cannot understand this, and reply that there is no need to worry. Ruzbef then asks for their obedience, saying saying that he has a duty to protect them as their king, and together with his mate and their young, he prepares to leave. The other monkeys refuse to follow him, however, and once Ruzbef has left, they choose a new leader.
+A few days later, the ram again playfully butts the same woman, but this time she is struck by its horns. Angry, the woman throws a stone at the ram’s head, knocking it out cold. When the ram wakes up, it remembers the blow; when it sees the woman nearby, it rushes at her in a fury. The woman is carrying a torch, and she strikes out at the ram with it to fend off the attack. The ram's wool catches fire. Panicked, the ram begins to run, and stumbles into the king's elephant enclosure where it tries to put out the fire by rolling around on the bundles of reeds. However, the reeds themselves start to burn as well, and soon the fire spreads throughout the enclosure, burning some of the elephants to death and injuring many others. The king, grieved by the news, calls his elephant keeper, who advises him that the best cure for the elephants' burns is monkey fat, applied to their skin every day until they heal. The king orders his men to hunt down all the monkeys on the mountain, take their fat and apply it to the elephants. A large group of soldiers set out on the hunt up the mountain, and when the monkeys demand to know why they must be killed, the soldiers explain the sequence of events, starting with the ram and the woman. The monkeys understand that this is the ill fortune their king had foreseen, and that their deaths are the consequences of their lack of faith in his leadership.
 }}