Makkaṭasutta

Suttapiṭaka · Saṁyuttanikāya · Mahāvaggasaṁyutta · Vol. 19 · Section 701

[701] Bhikkhus, in the Himavanta, the king of mountains, there are rugged, uneven regions where there is no range either for monkeys or for human beings. Bhikkhus, in the Himavanta, the king of mountains, there are rugged, uneven regions where there is a range for monkeys but not for human beings. Bhikkhus, in the Himavanta, the king of mountains, there are level, delightful tracts of ground where there is a range both for monkeys and for human beings. There, bhikkhus, hunters set out sticky lime (lepa) along the monkey trails in order to trap monkeys. There, bhikkhus, those monkeys that are not foolish by nature, not restless by nature, having seen that lime, avoid it from afar. But a monkey that is foolish by nature, restless by nature, approaches that lime and seizes it with his hand; he is caught there. Thinking, "I shall free my hand," he seizes it with his second hand; he is caught there. Thinking, "I shall free both hands," he seizes it with a foot; he is caught there. Thinking, "I shall free both hands and my foot," he seizes it with his second foot; he is caught there. Thinking, "I shall free both hands and both feet," he seizes it with his muzzle; he is caught there. Thus, bhikkhus, that monkey, trapped at five points, lies there groaning, fallen into calamity, fallen into disaster, for the hunter to do with as he wishes. Then, bhikkhus, the hunter, having pierced him, lifts the monkey up right there and, without letting him go, departs wherever he wishes. So it is, bhikkhus, for one who strays outside his proper resort, into the domain of others.

English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.