Once upon a time in the jungle, a bunch of monkeys got together to play a game of soccer. They were all very excited, jumping up and down, and bending and twining in and out of each other’s arms. Would one monkey place the ball on the ground, and the others would leap high, high in the air and strike it with their feet; and off it would go towards where some other monkeys were placed to prevent a goal being obtained.
The game went on for a long time, and though the monkeys begrimed themselves and turned their coats very muddy, and howled a great deal, they got no nearer obtaining a point than at the first, and for this reason: on every occasion, just about the time when a goal seemed possible,one monkey would insist on another taking the shot instead of himself.
“I will not be the one to score. It is your turn to do it,” he would say; or else he would hop up to his comrade and shout, “You are far better placed now than I am; make the shot yourself.”
So the argument grew, and this led to a huge deal of quarrelling and squabbling among themselves, so that they took little or no notice of the ball; and this was what led an elephant chanced to be passing to stop and look for a little while at the game.
At last he said, “You silly creatures, why do you not play together and kick the ball up amongst you towards your goal in that manner? Take my advice, and this quarrelling will soon come to an end. Besides, by acting in concert you will be certain to score a point.”
“Ho! Ho! that is a clever idea. Never thought of that before by my word. Come, lads, let us kick the ball up; less quarrelling and more kicking, seeing how near a score we are.” So they all agreed, and it was not many minutes before a point was obtained.
Would it not be as well to begin at once with this ball-kicking way of playing as to wait until after you have quarrelled?