"A monkey who would be king must first prove himself worthy of the crown."
The golden monkey returned to his troop on the seventh day.
They saw him coming from a distance—a small figure picking its way down the mountain slope, moving with a certainty that had not been there before. The monkeys gathered at the edge of the forest, chattering with excitement and relief. Some had feared their leader had abandoned them forever. Others had whispered that perhaps he had found death on his journey, that same death he had gone to understand.
But here he was, alive and whole, walking toward them with the sun behind him and a strange new light in his eyes.
The old one with white fur—she whose name was Memory, for she remembered things that no other living monkey remembered—waited at the front of the crowd. When the golden monkey reached her, she studied his face for a long moment before speaking.
"You found something," she said. It was not a question.
The golden monkey nodded. "I found the edge of the mountain. I found the sea. I found that the world is larger than we ever imagined—larger than any of us has dreamed."
The monkeys murmured among themselves. The sea? What was this thing called sea?
"But I also found that I am not ready," the golden monkey continued. "I stood at the shore and looked across the water, and I knew that I could not cross it alone. I need to learn more. I need to prepare. And I need—" He paused, looking at the faces around him. "I need to know that my family will be safe while I am gone."
Memory nodded slowly. "Then you will stay for a while?"
"I will stay until I am ready," the golden monkey said. "And while I stay, I will lead. But first, there is something I must do—something I should have done long ago."
He turned and began walking deeper into the forest. The troop followed, curious and uncertain.
The stream that ran through the heart of the monkeys' territory had always been a source of life. They drank from it, bathed in it, played in its shallows on hot summer days. But they had never followed it to its source—had never wondered where the water came from, or what lay beyond the places they knew.
The golden monkey followed it now, picking his way along its banks as it grew narrower and steeper, climbing over rocks and around fallen trees. The troop followed, some reluctantly, their unease growing as they entered territory they had always avoided.
The sound grew louder as they walked—a rumble that became a roar, a vibration that shook the very ground beneath their feet. And then, suddenly, they emerged from the forest and saw it.
A waterfall.
It plunged from a height so great that its top was lost in mist, a curtain of white water that fell with the force of a thousand storms. The pool at its base churned and boiled, sending spray into the air that caught the sunlight and scattered it into rainbows. The roar was deafening, the sight overwhelming.
The monkeys cowered at the edge of the forest, afraid to approach. But the golden monkey walked forward until he stood at the very edge of the pool, staring up at the falling water with an expression of wonder.
"Look," he said, pointing. "Behind the water."
The other monkeys squinted, trying to see what he saw. And then they saw it too—a dark opening in the cliff face, hidden behind the curtain of falling water. A cave.
"Who among us is brave enough to find what lies within?" the golden monkey called out. "Who will leap through the water and discover what secrets are hidden there?"
The monkeys looked at one another. None moved.
"The one who goes and returns unharmed," the golden monkey continued, "the one who discovers the secrets of the cave and brings back word of what lies within—that one shall be our king. That one shall rule over all of us, forever."
Still, none moved. The waterfall was too loud, too powerful, too terrifying. To leap into that churning curtain of water seemed like certain death.
The golden monkey waited. He watched their faces—saw the fear in their eyes, the hesitation in their postures. And then, slowly, he smiled.
"Then I will go," he said.
Before anyone could respond, he crouched, leaped, and disappeared into the falling water.
The monkeys screamed. Some covered their eyes. Others ran toward the pool, then stopped at its edge, unable to go further. Memory stood frozen, her ancient heart pounding against her ribs.
The seconds stretched like hours. The water fell and fell and fell, indifferent to the tragedy that might have just occurred within its depths. The monkeys waited, barely breathing, staring at the place where their leader had vanished.
And then—
A face appeared in the opening behind the water. A golden face, wet but smiling, waving at them with unmistakable joy.
"Come in!" the golden monkey called, his voice somehow carrying over the roar. "It's safe! It's more than safe—it's wonderful!"
The monkeys stared. They looked at one another. And then, one by one, they began to leap.
Inside the cave, the world was transformed.
The waterfall covered the entrance like a crystalline curtain, filtering the sunlight into shifting patterns of gold and green. The cave itself was vast—far larger than it had appeared from outside—with a high ceiling from which stone formations hung like frozen waterfalls. A natural bridge of rock arched over a clear pool that reflected the light in ways that seemed almost magical.
There were stone beds and stone tables, stone bowls and stone cups, as if the cave had been waiting for centuries for someone to discover it and make it home. The air was cool and fresh, and the constant roar of the waterfall outside became a gentle murmur, a lullaby rather than a threat.
The monkeys poured through the entrance, one after another, their initial fear giving way to wonder and delight. They explored every corner of the cave, chattering and exclaiming, discovering new marvels with every step.
"Look at this!"
"And this!"
"It's perfect! It's more than perfect!"
The golden monkey stood on the natural bridge, watching his troop explore their new home. He had known, somehow, that the cave would be there. He had felt it calling to him as he followed the stream, as he stood before the waterfall, as he leaped into the unknown. It was as if the mountain itself had been waiting for him to claim this place.
Memory climbed up to join him on the bridge. Her old eyes were bright with something that might have been tears.
"You knew," she said quietly. "You knew what you would find."
The golden monkey shook his head. "I hoped. That is not the same as knowing."
"But you were willing to risk everything on that hope." She looked out at the monkeys below, playing and exploring in their new home. "That is why you will be a great king."
The golden monkey looked at her, surprised. "I did not do this to become king. I did it because—" He stopped, struggling to find words. "Because it needed to be done. Because someone had to."
Memory smiled—a rare expression on her weathered face. "That," she said, "is exactly why you will be a great king."
That night, the monkeys gathered in the great hall of the cave. Torches—how they had made them, the golden monkey could not have explained; they simply appeared, as if the cave provided what was needed—cast flickering light on the stone walls. The waterfall at the entrance glowed silver in the moonlight, a curtain of liquid light.
The golden monkey stood before them, and they knelt.
"Rise," he said, uncomfortable with the gesture. "I am no different than I was this morning."
"You are different," one of the younger monkeys called out. "This morning, you were one of us. Tonight, you are our king."
The golden monkey—no, the Monkey King now, though he did not yet think of himself that way—looked at the faces before him. He saw hope and trust and love. He saw responsibility weighing on every pair of eyes.
"I will be your king," he said slowly, "on one condition. That you do not call me king when we are playing. That you do not bow to me when we are eating. That you remember, always, that I am one of you—the same flesh, the same blood, the same family."
The monkeys murmured their agreement. It seemed a small thing to ask.
"But there is something else," the Monkey King continued. "Something I have not told you."
The cave grew quiet. Even the waterfall seemed to hush its voice.
"I still have not found what I seek," he said. "I still carry the stone in my belly. I still do not understand death—why it comes, whether it can be defeated, what lies beyond it. This cave, this kingdom, this family—these are wonderful gifts. But they do not answer my question."
Memory stepped forward. "Then you will still leave us someday?"
"I will," the Monkey King said. "But not yet. Not until I have made this place safe. Not until I have taught you everything I know. Not until I am ready."
He looked around the cave—at the stone beds and tables, at the pool of clear water, at the families of monkeys already making themselves at home.
"But while I am here," he said, "we will build something together. We will create a kingdom worthy of this mountain. We will live as monkeys have never lived before—free, safe, happy. And when the time comes for me to leave, you will remember me not as a king who abandoned you, but as a king who prepared you."
The monkeys cheered. They did not fully understand his words—did not grasp the weight of the stone he carried, the question that drove him. But they understood that they were loved, that they were safe, that they had found a home beyond their wildest dreams.
And for the Monkey King, watching them celebrate, that was enough.
For now.
The days that followed were the happiest the monkeys had ever known.
The cave provided everything they needed. The pool never ran dry, its waters sweet and clear. Strange fruits grew on vines that climbed the cave walls, appearing each morning as if by magic. The stone beds, when covered with leaves and moss, proved more comfortable than any nest in the trees. And the waterfall, which had once seemed so terrifying, became a beloved feature—a curtain that kept out predators and cold, a source of endless fascination for the young monkeys who loved to play in its spray.
The Monkey King organized his subjects. He assigned tasks according to each monkey's strengths—the strongest became guardians of the entrance, the quickest became foragers, the cleverest became teachers of the young. He established rules and settled disputes, always with fairness and wisdom that seemed beyond his years.
He named the cave the Water Curtain Cave, in honor of the waterfall that protected it. He named the mountain Flower-Fruit Mountain, for the endless abundance that grew on its slopes. And he named himself—though this came later, and almost by accident—the Handsome Monkey King, for his golden fur and bright eyes and the way the other monkeys looked at him with something like adoration.
Years passed. The kingdom grew and prospered. Other monkey troops, hearing of the wonders of the Water Curtain Cave, came to join them. Soon the cave could barely contain them all, and the monkeys spread out across the mountain, building new homes in the trees and rocks, always returning to the cave for gatherings and celebrations.
The Monkey King taught them games—hide and seek among the rocks, races through the forest, contests of strength and agility. He taught them songs, which they would sing together on moonlit nights, their voices carrying across the mountain like a promise. He taught them to look after one another, to share what they had, to resolve conflicts without violence.
But he also taught himself.
In the quiet hours, when the other monkeys slept, the Monkey King would sit alone and think. He thought about the sea he had seen, the raft he had built, the journey that still waited for him. He thought about death—the old monkey who had died so many years ago, the others who had followed since, the certainty that more would follow still. He thought about the immortals, the sages, the wise ones who might hold the answers he sought.
And slowly, piece by piece, he began to prepare.
One evening, as the sun set behind the mountain and the waterfall glowed orange and red, Memory found him sitting alone on the natural bridge.
"You are thinking of leaving," she said. It was not a question.
The Monkey King did not deny it. "I am thinking of many things."
"You have been thinking of leaving for years." Memory sat beside him, her old bones creaking. "But you stay. Why?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "Because I am afraid."
"Of death?"
"No." He shook his head. "Of leaving. Of what might happen to you all while I am gone. Of returning to find—" He stopped.
Memory understood. "You are afraid of coming home to find us gone. Of being too late."
"Yes."
The old monkey reached out and took his hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
"When I was young," she said, "younger than you are now, I loved a monkey. He was strong and brave and foolish. One day he decided to climb to the top of the mountain, to see what lay beyond the clouds. I begged him not to go. I told him it was dangerous. I told him I could not bear to lose him."
She paused, her eyes distant, seeing things that had happened long before the Monkey King was born.
"He went anyway. And he never came back."
The Monkey King squeezed her hand. "I am sorry."
"Do not be. I mourned him, yes. But I also understood something—something I want you to understand now." She turned to face him. "Love is not possession. It is not holding on. It is wishing the best for someone, even if the best means they must leave you."
The Monkey King looked at her, his bright eyes uncertain.
"If you stay here forever," Memory continued, "if you give up your quest because you are afraid of what might happen while you are gone—you will resent us. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday. And that resentment will poison everything we have built together."
She released his hand and stood, looking down at him with something like pride.
"Go when you are ready. Go and find your answers. And if you return—if you find us still here, or find only our bones—know that we loved you enough to let you go."
She walked away, leaving the Monkey King alone with his thoughts and the setting sun and the waterfall that had become his home.
He sat there for a long time, watching the light fade, feeling the stone in his belly grow heavier and lighter at the same time.
That night, the Monkey King dreamed.
He dreamed of a mountain taller than Flower-Fruit, its peak lost in clouds that glowed with inner light. He dreamed of an old man with a staff, sitting beneath a tree, waiting. He dreamed of words written in a language he could not read, secrets hidden in symbols he could not understand.
And he dreamed of death—not as an ending, but as a doorway. Not as something to fear, but as something to understand.
He woke with the dawn, the dream already fading, but its feeling remaining. The certainty that his time on Flower-Fruit Mountain was growing short. The knowledge that the answers he sought were waiting for him somewhere beyond the sea.
He rose and walked to the entrance of the cave. He pushed aside the waterfall—he had learned to do this long ago, stepping through the curtain as if it were made of silk rather than water—and stood on the rocks outside, watching the sun rise over the Eastern Sea.
Somewhere out there, the immortals waited.
Somewhere out there, the answers lived.
And one day—soon, perhaps—he would go and find them.
But not yet.
Not quite yet.
For a kingdom is not built in a day, and a king is not made in a moment. And the stone in the belly, though it grows heavier with each passing year, can be carried a little longer—if the one who carries it knows that the journey is waiting, and will wait, until he is ready to begin.
[End of Chapter 2]