Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/86

 And when the monkey sat down to start eating, a large kite saw the prey and dove down. It snatched the capon from the monkey's hands and flew off with it in the air, leaving the monkey feeling sorry for itself.

The monkey decided to remain quietly in a corner of the kitchen to ferociously avenge itself if the kite happen to return. After a while, the monkey looked up and saw the kite flying around the kitchen. And being shrewd and cunning, the monkey approached the pot again and took the other capon out and pretended to sit down to want to eat it. The kite happened to come back and dropped down on the monkey in the belief that she could rob him also of the second capon. But the monkey quickly caught the kite and killed it. And not being content with having killed it, the monkey plucked the kite as best he knew how to, and put in the pot on the fire together with the second capon he had previously taken out. The King greatly admired the monkey for its sagacity and the amusement provided, greatly cheered him up.

A little while later the cook returned to the kitchen to see how the King's dinner was coming along. He approached the pot and to his great surprise found it uncovered. As he took the ladle in his hand, believing that he was taking out the capons, he found the unfortunate kite inside. He was very worried since he didn't know how it could have happened. And he was all confused since he was unable to think about what kind of food he could prepare for his master the King, who, because of his illness, could only eat capons.