A PRINCE had some Monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally great mimics of men’s actions, they showed themselves most apt pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and masks, they danced as well as any of the courtiers. The spectacle was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage. The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) Monkeys instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing spectacle thus came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of the audience.
ある王子が、サルたちに踊りを仕込んだ。サルはもともと人間のしぐさをまねるのがとても上手なので、たいへん物覚えのよい生徒ぶりを見せ、豪華な衣装を着て仮面をつけると、どの廷臣にも負けないくらい上手に踊った。この見世物は何度もくり返され、大喝采をあびていたが、あるとき、いたずら好きの廷臣がポケットからひとつかみの木の実を取り出して、舞台の上に投げた。サルたちは木の実を見ると踊りのことなど忘れてしまい、役者ではなく（実際そのとおりなのだが）サルにもどってしまった。サルたちは仮面をむしり取り、衣装を引き裂いて、木の実を取り合ってけんかを始めた。こうして踊りの見世物は、観客の笑いとあざけりのなかで終わりをむかえた。