The tiger's judgment
Original Story:
The Rabbit’s Judgment
Long, long ago, when plants and animals talked, a tiger fell into a deep pit while roaming through the forest in search of food. He tried over and over to get out but the walls were too steep for him to climb and he could not jump high enough to reach the opening. He called for help but none came.
The next morning he called for help until he was hoarse. Hungry and exhausted he slumped down on the ground, thinking that he was doomed to die in the pit. But then he heard footsteps.
"Help! HeIp!" he cried desperately.
"Oh! A tiger!" said a man, peering over the side of the pit.
"Please! PIease help me out of here!" pleaded the tiger. "If you help me, I won't forget you as long as I live."
The man felt sorry for the tiger but he was afraid of being eaten. "I would like to heIp you but, I'm sorry, the thought of what might happen makes me refuse. Please forgive me. I must be on my way," said the man and he began walking down the path.
"No! No! PIease don't think like that! Please help me!" cried the tiger. "You don't have to worry! I promise! I won't hurt you! Please heIp me out! Please! I beg you! If you get me out. I'II be forever grateful to you! Please!"
The tiger sounded so pitiful that the man turned around and walked back to the pit. He Iooked around until he found a big log. "Here, climb up this," he said, lowering the log into the pit.
The tiger climbed up the log and came face to face with the man. His mouth watered and he began circling him.
"Hey! Wait a minute! Didn't you promise not to hurt me? Is this your idea of gratefulness? Is this how you repay a kindness?"
"What do I care about a promise when I'm starving! I haven't eaten for days!"
"Wait! Wait!" cried the man. "Let's ask that pine tree if it is right for you to eat me."
"All right," said the tiger. "But after we ask, I'm going to eat you. I'm awfully hungry."
The tiger and the man explained the situation to the pine tree.
"What do men know about gratefulness?" said the pine tree. "Why your kind take our leaves and limbs to make fires to heat your homes and cook your food. And it takes us years to grow big but when we finally do you cut us down and cut us up to make timber and planks for houses and furniture and the like. Moreover, it was a man that dug that pit. Gratefulness. indeed! Don't give it another thought, Tiger. You just go ahead and satisfy your hunger!"
"Now what do you think of that?" asked the tiger, smacking his lips loudly and slinking toward the man.
Just at that moment an ox wandered by. "Wait! Wait!" cried the man. "Let's ask that ox to Judge?"
The tiger agreed so they explained everything to the ox and asked his opinion.
"Well, as far as I'm concened. there's no question about what to do." said the ox, turning to the tiger. "You should eat him up! You see from the time we're born we oxen work diligently for men. We carry heavy loads on our backs and plow up the ground so they can grow food. But what do they do when we're old? They kiIl us and eat our flesh and use our hides to make all kinds of things. So don't talk to me about being grateful to him. Just eat him!"
"See! Everyone agrees. Now get ready to die," said the tiger, crouching to pounce.
The man thought that it must surely be his time to die. But then a rabbit came hopping by.
"Wait Tiger! Wait!" shouted the man.
"Now what?" roared the tiger.
"Please give me one last chance." begged the man. "Let's ask that rabbit to judge whether l should be eaten or not."
"Oh, what's the use? You know the answer will be the same."
"PIease, please," pleaded the man.
"Oh. all right. But this is the last time. I'm starving!"
So the tiger and the man told the rabbit their story. The rabbit listened carefully. Then he closed his eyes and stroked one of his long ears. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately. "I well understand what the two of you have said. But if l am to make a wise judgment we should go to that pit and you should tell me again what happened. So lead the way."
The tiger and the man led the rabbit the few short steps to the pit.
"Well it certainly is deep," said the rabbit. Iooking down into the pit. "Let's see, you say you were down there and you were standing here like this?" he said to the tiger and then to the man. "Well, get in the positions you were in at the time and then I can make a judgment."
Without giving it a second thought, the tiger jumped down into the pit. He was so hungry all he could think about was getting the decision-making over so he could eat the man. The man peered over the edge of the pit.
"So, that is how the two of you were. You, Tiger, had fallen into the pit and couldn't get out. And you, Man, having heard his cries of help. came and helped him out. Now I can judge. The problem started when this man helped that tiger out of this pit." explained the rabbit as if talking to someone else. "In other words, if the man had not shown any kindness and had left the tiger in the pit. there wouldn't be a problem. So what l think is that the man should continue his journey and the tiger should remain in the pit. Now, a good day to the both of you," said the clever rabbit and he hopped away.
The Tiger’s side of the story:
I promise that I was only doing what was necessary. I was only a poverty-stricken, ravenous tiger looking for a bite to eat. If you ask me, I should’ve just eaten the man, the rabbit, the man’s family, and the rabbit’s family…
Let me just tell you the whole story…
I had just woken up from an astounding nap. It was actually a great nap, a really, really, really good nap. I had just eaten a fabulous lunch, lots of tiny cute litt
“Excuse me; you’re off the topic…”
Oh, yes, sorry. So I had just awakened from a nap and was very, very hungry. I began to roam through the forest looking for something to eat for supper. As I walked along the soft green grass, through the many trees I noticed that the ground beneath my feet disappeared. I was falling deeper and deeper into a dark pit. I scratched and clawed into the air trying to find something to latch onto. Nothing. I had just fallen into a muggy, steamy, sticky, stuffy, airless pit. I sat there for hours yelling “Help, Help!” over and over, but no one came. The next morning I heard some footsteps, so I got up as fast as I could and yelled again, “HELP!” A man came and looked into the pit. The man told me that I could not be trusted. He said that I am a tiger and I will surely eat him as soon as he showed mercy.
He was right. I’m a TIGER, of course I’d eat the man. In one bite too, but, of course I told the man and promised the man that I would not eat him if he were to help me out of this stupid hole. He threw down a log that I could climb up and I did just that. I climbed out of that pit as fast as I could. I could hear the pulse of his still beating heart, I could taste his fear. My mouth was watering as well as my eyes while I circled around the man.
Of course the man pleaded and begged for his life. He even asked a pine tree and an ox if I should not eat him. Men take without thinking. They are the most ungrateful of all the animals and plants on earth. I would be doing this world a great deed by eating this man. So I proceeded to do so. I was just about to take a bite out of this man when a small little rabbit walks by. The man then asks the rabbit if I should eat him.
This clever little rabbit told us to go to the positions in which we were at when the first problem occurred. Where was I? INSIDE THE HOLE. Without thinking twice I jumped back into the hole. Before I knew it, both the rabbit and the man had disappeared.
I am out of the pit now. Don’t worry; I didn’t kill the man or the rabbit.
Karma is the best revenge.
The man was killed by a wild ox, and a tree somehow fell onto the rabbit and squashed the poor little thing…
The Rabbit’s Judgment
Long, long ago, when plants and animals talked, a tiger fell into a deep pit while roaming through the forest in search of food. He tried over and over to get out but the walls were too steep for him to climb and he could not jump high enough to reach the opening. He called for help but none came.
The next morning he called for help until he was hoarse. Hungry and exhausted he slumped down on the ground, thinking that he was doomed to die in the pit. But then he heard footsteps.
"Help! HeIp!" he cried desperately.
"Oh! A tiger!" said a man, peering over the side of the pit.
"Please! PIease help me out of here!" pleaded the tiger. "If you help me, I won't forget you as long as I live."
The man felt sorry for the tiger but he was afraid of being eaten. "I would like to heIp you but, I'm sorry, the thought of what might happen makes me refuse. Please forgive me. I must be on my way," said the man and he began walking down the path.
"No! No! PIease don't think like that! Please help me!" cried the tiger. "You don't have to worry! I promise! I won't hurt you! Please heIp me out! Please! I beg you! If you get me out. I'II be forever grateful to you! Please!"
The tiger sounded so pitiful that the man turned around and walked back to the pit. He Iooked around until he found a big log. "Here, climb up this," he said, lowering the log into the pit.
The tiger climbed up the log and came face to face with the man. His mouth watered and he began circling him.
"Hey! Wait a minute! Didn't you promise not to hurt me? Is this your idea of gratefulness? Is this how you repay a kindness?"
"What do I care about a promise when I'm starving! I haven't eaten for days!"
"Wait! Wait!" cried the man. "Let's ask that pine tree if it is right for you to eat me."
"All right," said the tiger. "But after we ask, I'm going to eat you. I'm awfully hungry."
The tiger and the man explained the situation to the pine tree.
"What do men know about gratefulness?" said the pine tree. "Why your kind take our leaves and limbs to make fires to heat your homes and cook your food. And it takes us years to grow big but when we finally do you cut us down and cut us up to make timber and planks for houses and furniture and the like. Moreover, it was a man that dug that pit. Gratefulness. indeed! Don't give it another thought, Tiger. You just go ahead and satisfy your hunger!"
"Now what do you think of that?" asked the tiger, smacking his lips loudly and slinking toward the man.
Just at that moment an ox wandered by. "Wait! Wait!" cried the man. "Let's ask that ox to Judge?"
The tiger agreed so they explained everything to the ox and asked his opinion.
"Well, as far as I'm concened. there's no question about what to do." said the ox, turning to the tiger. "You should eat him up! You see from the time we're born we oxen work diligently for men. We carry heavy loads on our backs and plow up the ground so they can grow food. But what do they do when we're old? They kiIl us and eat our flesh and use our hides to make all kinds of things. So don't talk to me about being grateful to him. Just eat him!"
"See! Everyone agrees. Now get ready to die," said the tiger, crouching to pounce.
The man thought that it must surely be his time to die. But then a rabbit came hopping by.
"Wait Tiger! Wait!" shouted the man.
"Now what?" roared the tiger.
"Please give me one last chance." begged the man. "Let's ask that rabbit to judge whether l should be eaten or not."
"Oh, what's the use? You know the answer will be the same."
"PIease, please," pleaded the man.
"Oh. all right. But this is the last time. I'm starving!"
So the tiger and the man told the rabbit their story. The rabbit listened carefully. Then he closed his eyes and stroked one of his long ears. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately. "I well understand what the two of you have said. But if l am to make a wise judgment we should go to that pit and you should tell me again what happened. So lead the way."
The tiger and the man led the rabbit the few short steps to the pit.
"Well it certainly is deep," said the rabbit. Iooking down into the pit. "Let's see, you say you were down there and you were standing here like this?" he said to the tiger and then to the man. "Well, get in the positions you were in at the time and then I can make a judgment."
Without giving it a second thought, the tiger jumped down into the pit. He was so hungry all he could think about was getting the decision-making over so he could eat the man. The man peered over the edge of the pit.
"So, that is how the two of you were. You, Tiger, had fallen into the pit and couldn't get out. And you, Man, having heard his cries of help. came and helped him out. Now I can judge. The problem started when this man helped that tiger out of this pit." explained the rabbit as if talking to someone else. "In other words, if the man had not shown any kindness and had left the tiger in the pit. there wouldn't be a problem. So what l think is that the man should continue his journey and the tiger should remain in the pit. Now, a good day to the both of you," said the clever rabbit and he hopped away.
The Tiger’s side of the story:
I promise that I was only doing what was necessary. I was only a poverty-stricken, ravenous tiger looking for a bite to eat. If you ask me, I should’ve just eaten the man, the rabbit, the man’s family, and the rabbit’s family…
Let me just tell you the whole story…
I had just woken up from an astounding nap. It was actually a great nap, a really, really, really good nap. I had just eaten a fabulous lunch, lots of tiny cute litt
“Excuse me; you’re off the topic…”
Oh, yes, sorry. So I had just awakened from a nap and was very, very hungry. I began to roam through the forest looking for something to eat for supper. As I walked along the soft green grass, through the many trees I noticed that the ground beneath my feet disappeared. I was falling deeper and deeper into a dark pit. I scratched and clawed into the air trying to find something to latch onto. Nothing. I had just fallen into a muggy, steamy, sticky, stuffy, airless pit. I sat there for hours yelling “Help, Help!” over and over, but no one came. The next morning I heard some footsteps, so I got up as fast as I could and yelled again, “HELP!” A man came and looked into the pit. The man told me that I could not be trusted. He said that I am a tiger and I will surely eat him as soon as he showed mercy.
He was right. I’m a TIGER, of course I’d eat the man. In one bite too, but, of course I told the man and promised the man that I would not eat him if he were to help me out of this stupid hole. He threw down a log that I could climb up and I did just that. I climbed out of that pit as fast as I could. I could hear the pulse of his still beating heart, I could taste his fear. My mouth was watering as well as my eyes while I circled around the man.
Of course the man pleaded and begged for his life. He even asked a pine tree and an ox if I should not eat him. Men take without thinking. They are the most ungrateful of all the animals and plants on earth. I would be doing this world a great deed by eating this man. So I proceeded to do so. I was just about to take a bite out of this man when a small little rabbit walks by. The man then asks the rabbit if I should eat him.
This clever little rabbit told us to go to the positions in which we were at when the first problem occurred. Where was I? INSIDE THE HOLE. Without thinking twice I jumped back into the hole. Before I knew it, both the rabbit and the man had disappeared.
I am out of the pit now. Don’t worry; I didn’t kill the man or the rabbit.
Karma is the best revenge.
The man was killed by a wild ox, and a tree somehow fell onto the rabbit and squashed the poor little thing…