A merchant arrived in a mountain village, where there were monkeys all over the surrounding mountains. The merchant spoke to the farmers in the village, saying, "I will buy monkeys for 100 yuan each." The villagers, unsure if it was true, tried to catch the monkeys, and the merchant indeed paid 100 yuan. Soon, everyone in the village went to catch monkeys, as it was much more profitable than farming. Before long, the merchant bought more than two thousand monkeys, and there were few monkeys left in the mountains. At this point, the merchant raised his offer to 200 yuan each for the monkeys, and seeing the price double, the villagers rushed to catch more. The merchant bought more, but the monkeys were becoming hard to catch. The merchant then raised his price to 300 yuan each, and the monkeys were nearly impossible to catch. The merchant even offered 500 yuan each, but there were no monkeys left in the mountains; over three thousand monkeys were now with the merchant.

One day, the merchant had to return to the city for business. His assistant went to the village and told the farmers, "I will sell you the monkeys for 300 yuan each. When the merchant returns, you can sell them to him for 500 yuan, and you will make a fortune." The villagers, in a frenzy, sold their pots and pans for scrap metal to gather enough money to buy back all the monkeys, over three thousand of them.

The assistant took the money and left, but the merchant never returned. The villagers waited a long time, firmly believing that the merchant would return to buy their monkeys for 500 yuan. Eventually, some could no longer wait; the monkeys still needed bananas, which cost money, so they released the monkeys back into the mountains, where there were still monkeys everywhere.