“Let’s play a game,” he said. “Whoever can make the other monkeys laugh the most will be declared the winner!”

The monkeys all agreed, and set off to try and make each other laugh.

The first monkey went up to the second one and started singing an off-key tune. The second monkey was not amused at all and scowled at the first one.

The third monkey tried his luck with a few silly voices, which made the fourth monkey chuckle. But the first and second monkeys still weren’t impressed.

The fifth monkey yanked out some of its fur and used it to make funny faces. All the monkeys laughed uproariously as the monkey made funnier and funnier faces.

The sixth monkey decided to go one step further and actually tried to do physical comedy like slipping on a banana peel and landing right on its backside. All the monkeys were rolling on the floor in hysterics.

The seventh monkey went even further and started telling jokes. This made the others laugh even more.

By the end of it, the leader of the troop declared that the seventh monkey had won the game, much to everyone’s amazement.

The monkeys learned from that day that laughter is indeed the best medicine. From then on, whenever they got bored, they would gather and each take turns making the others laugh.

Such is the story of the monkeys and their game of laughter.