PT1-02-TheMonkeyThatPulledTheWedge
Panchatantra Stories
பஞ்சதந்திரம் pañca-tantiram , n. pañcan +. The Tamil version of Pañca-tantra consisting of five books, viz., mittira-pētam, cukirl- lāpam, canti-vikkirakam, artta-nācam, acampirēṭciya-kārittuvam; மித்திரபேதம், சுகிர்ல்லாபம், சந்திவிக்கிரகம், அர்த்தநாசம், அசம்பிரேட்சியகாரித்து வம் என ஐம்பகுதியுடையதாய்த் தமிழில் மொழிபெயர்க் கப்பட்ட நூல்.
1. மித்திரபேதம் = mittira-pētam = Sowing discord among friends.
2. சுகிர்ல்லாபம் = cukir-l-lāpam = the acquisition of friends.
3. சந்திவிக்கிரகம் canti-vikkirakam  = Associating with a foe with a view to ruin him.
4. அர்த்தநாசம் artta-nācam  = Loss of wealth.
5. அசம்பிரேட்சியகாரித்துவம் a-campirēṭciya-kārittuvam , n. a-sam-prēkṣya-kāri-tva. Action without forethought.

Inspiration from Poet Nara Nacchiappan
Veeraswamy Krishnaraj
A thriving pomegranate grove adjoined a temple. The woodcutters split logs for the renovation of the temple. The workers drove a wedge in a half-split log of wood and went away on their lunch break. A troop of finger monkeys was playing among the cut logs.

One finger monkey sat on a log. The monkey was screeching, scratching, and jumping on the log, and saw a wedge in the split. The finger monkey kept on shaking the wedge, loosened it from its moor, with the result its dangling tail in the split got caught. It cried as loud as it could. The workers and Its mother came running. By that time, its body separated from the tail, the monkey bled and died.

Don’t do things of which you have no knowledge. Know yourself and your surroundings.