The Unmannerly Tiger

The Unmannerly Tiger

In the mountains lived a big striped tiger. The villagers called him Mountain Uncle.

He was strong, agile and terribly self-confident.

“No trap will catch me,” the tiger boasted. “I know all the tricks of man.”

One autumn morning he was walking among the rocks and looking for food. Suddenly he saw another tiger ahead.

This one was just as big, just as striped and was looking straight at him.

Mountain Uncle raised his tail.

The stranger also raised his tail.

The tiger growled.

So did the stranger.

“Do you mean to challenge me?” Mountain Uncle demanded angrily.

He leaped forward and fell into a deep pit dug by hunters.

There was no other tiger. A mirror hung above the trap, hidden among branches. Mountain Uncle had seen his own reflection.

“What a fix I’m in,” he grumbled from the bottom of the pit.

Time passed. A wandering monk was walking along the path. He heard a sad growl and looked down.

“Who’s there?”

“Me! Help me!” said the tiger. “I’ve hurt my paw and I can’t get out on my own.”

The monk believed that all living beings should be treated with compassion.

He found a long log, lowered one end into the pit, and said:

“Try to climb up it.”

The tiger scrambled out, shook the dirt from his fur, and said solemnly:

“Thank you.”

The monk smiled.

But then the tiger licked his lips.

“I’m terribly hungry, though. So I think I’ll eat you now.”

“What?” the monk exclaimed. “I have just saved you!”

“That’s true,” replied the tiger. “But I’m still hungry.”

“What a way to thank me! Let someone else judge between us.”

The tiger agreed.

An old tree grew nearby.

“Tree,” the monk asked, “is it right to harm someone who has helped you?”

The leaves rustled.

“No,” the tree replied. “Kindness deserves gratitude.”

The tiger flicked his tail in annoyance.

“The tree knows nothing. Let’s ask someone else.”

They approached a large rock.

“Rock, which of us is right?” asked the monk.

A deep voice came from the crack:

“This man saved you. If you attack him in return, you show ingratitude, not strength.”

The tiger frowned.

“Another judge!”

Just then, a little frog came out of the grass.

“I can listen to you,” she said.

The tiger snorted.

“You? But you are smaller than my paw!”

“Perhaps,” the frog replied calmly. “But you need a wise answer, not a large one.”

The monk could hardly keep from smiling.

The frog heard them both out and said:

“I cannot solve the case until I see the trap. Show me how it all happened.”

They returned to the pit.

“So,” said the frog, “the tiger was down there?”

“That is right,” replied the monk.

“And the monk was standing here?”

“Yes.”

“And the log was lying like this?”

As the frog slowly asked about every little detail, the monk understood her plan. He quietly stepped aside, then another step, and then walked along the path to the monastery.

The tiger was so absorbed in the argument that he did not notice anything.

“Well?” he asked impatiently. “Who is right?”

The frog looked at the empty path.

“The one who is safely out of danger.”

The tiger looked around.

The monk was not there.

“You tricked me!”

“No,” said the frog. “I gave you time to remember gratitude. But all that time, you thought only of yourself.”

The tiger angrily thrust his paw into the gap between the stones where the frog had hidden, but he could not reach her. All he managed was to scrape his nose on the rough stone.

“Ouch!”

And then the frog laughed:

“Such a great tiger, and your pride has beaten you twice in one day! First you fought your reflection, and now you’re fighting a stone.”

Mountain Uncle sat down and remained silent for a long time.

He felt ashamed.

Finally he muttered:

“Perhaps strength really is no help when all you think about is yourself.”

He went back into the mountains and no longer pursued the monk.

They say that whenever anyone helped Mountain Uncle after that, he remembered the pit, the mirror, and the little frog before opening his mouth.

More and more often, he opened it just to say two words:

“Thank you.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨