Storytelling for Week 4: The Man Who Hid a Tiger

Once upon a time, in a small house amongst the mountains, there lived a man. This man kept to himself mostly, tending to his plants and and livestock, only visiting the nearby town on rare occasion for flour, sweets, and other such things that he could not make himself. However, to call this man a hermit, as did many of the children in the nearby town, would be inaccurate. Indeed, he was self reliant, and it was a fact that he mistrusted the governments of men and their ever encroaching townships and cities, but the man appreciated company as much as any other man, and was not unknown to chat with the store clerk in town.

One day, while the man was working in his garden, he heard a series of footsteps behind him. When the man turned around, he was shocked to see not a person behind him, but a tiger who seemed just as frightened as the man.

"Please!" said the tiger to the man. "You must help me. There are men following me; they are trying to kill me! Will you please hide me in your house until they pass?"

"Now wait a minute," said the man to the tiger. "Why are these men pursuing you? Surely you must have offended them in some way."

"They have accused me of murder, but it is a lie!" replied the tiger. "For years I have lived in peace in the forest, but now these men desire to expand their home into my own, and as such have devised a way to get rid of me forever!"

"Very well." said the man. "You can stay in my home until these men pass. It seems the sins of man in the name of expansion have no end."

In short time, the men that the tiger spoke of appeared at the home of the man. The man approached them and asked "Can I help you all find anything? I don't get a lot of visitors around here."

"We're looking for a tiger who killed one of our friends." replied one of the men shortly. "Have you seen it?"

"No, I don't believe I have, but you might try at the next house down the road." replied the man.

Frustrated and annoyed, the men left without another word.

 (Tiger. Wikimedia Commons)

The man returned to the tiger and said: "The men who were hunting you have left, but you are welcome to stay for tea and a snack."

"I really must be going," said the tiger. "But I believe I will take a snack for the road."

Before the man could reply, the tiger leapt up and devoured him whole.

"Only a fool would trust the word of a tiger over his fellow man."

Author's Note: This story is based on The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve from the The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801). Web source. This story tells the tale of a nobleman who, one day while hunting, happens across a frightened snake. The snake convinces the nobleman to hide him from another man trying to kill the snake. However, after he helps the snake, the snake calls him a fool for trusting him and says that he will kill the man. The nobleman distracts the snake and crushes his head with a rock.