Book Summaries
How to Catch Monkeys (Tales of Dervishes)
ONCE upon a time there was a monkey who was very fond of cherries. One day he saw a delicious-looking cherry, and came down from his tree to get it. But the fruit turned out to be in a clear glass bottle.
ONCE upon a time there was a monkey who was very fond of cherries. One day he saw a delicious-looking cherry, and came down from his tree to get it. But the fruit turned out to be in a clear glass bottle. After some experimentation, the monkey found that he could get hold of the cherry by putting his hand into the bottle by way of the neck. As soon as he had done so, he closed his hand over the cherry; but then he found that he could not withdraw his fist holding the cherry, because it was larger than the internal dimension of the neck.
Now all this was deliberate, because the cherry in the bottle was a trap laid by a monkey-hunter who knew how monkeys think. The hunter, hearing the monkey’s whimperings, came along and the monkey tried to run away. But, because his hand was, as he thought, stuck in the bottle, he could not move fast enough to escape.
But, as he thought, he still had hold of the cherry. The hunter picked him up. A moment later he tapped the monkey sharply on the elbow, making him suddenly relax his hold on the fruit. The monkey was free, but he was captured. The hunter had used the cherry and the bottle, but he still had them.
YARPP List
Related posts:
- Will It Fly Summary (7/10)
- Modern Man in Search of a Soul Summary (8/10)
- Part 2: Stir Up The Transgressive and Taboo (The Art of Seduction)
- Chapter 19: And They Lived Happily Every After (Sapiens)
Keep Reading
Related Articles
Book Summaries
Moral Values (Dominion)
As Holland studied Roman or Spartan culture, and its brutality, he noticed that it exuded a morality that was not his. Christian influence on Western civilization is so profound that it has come to be hidden from view.
Book Summaries
Hegel and Calusewitz (Battling to the End)
In Chapters 2 and 3 of Battling to the End, René Girard and Benoît Chantre discuss the relationship between the key ideas of Hegel and Clausewitz, both of whom were deeply influenced by Napoleon.
Book Summaries
Mastering the Mind: A Journey Through Self-Discipline, Addiction, and Mindfulness from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Science
The concept of self-discipline resonates with everyone, transcending cultural and personal differences. Its importance is a given, but the ways we approach it have changed over time, molding to the ideologies of different eras. 1.
Book Summaries
The Green Pill
What if it was a trilemma? The Matrix metaphor that has been abused is the dilemma that Morpheus gave to Neo in the form of a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. Pop culture has embraced the metaphor.