The Tiger in the Cage
Once upon a time I was caught within a trap. I tried my very hardest to get out, but I just couldn’t do it. I scratched and bit the cage with all my might until I bled. There was no escaping this cage.
Luckily, after a few days of being trapped in the middle of nowhere in a cage I saw a poor Brahman.
I cried out to him, “Let me out of this cage, oh pious one! Please!”
The Brahman replied, “No, my friend. You would just kill and eat me after I helped you escape."
I was thinking to myself; I was really hungry, and he does look tasty. Although, if he opens up the cage, he would be saving my life, so should I save his? I could not come to a decision at the time so I sighed and sobbed to the Brahman, begging him to open the cage up for me. By this time the Brahman felt sorry for me and opened up the cage to let me out! As soon as that cage came flying open, I pounced onto the man, getting ready to eat him.
“Whaaaa!” I said. “How can you be such a fool?! What is going to stop me from eating you now? I have been in the cage for so long that I am terribly hungry."
The Brahman was so pitiful. He pleaded for his life. He then asked me if he could go find three things to tell the situation to, and find out what they think of the matter. Then he would listen to their insight.
“Okay, okay, why not? You will be my dinner soon enough,” I said. “See what they tell you. It’s not like it will matter. I will eat you for dinner regardless of the decision by others.”
The Brahman, upset, went to find someone or something to talk to first, and I tagged along about fifty yards behind. The Brahman found a papal-tree and asked him what he thought of the situation.
“What are you complaining about?” the tree said. “I give shelter to anyone that passes by and what do they do?! Chop at my branches to feed their cattle. Be a man!”
The Brahman then went and found a buffalo, but he had no further luck talking with him. The bull said, “You’re a fool to expect gratitude. Look at me, I give up my milk and they just slaughter my young.”
I watched as the Brahman walked around with despair. I kind of felt bad for him, but I was just so hungry. I tried to speed up the process. “Hurry up! I’m waiting to attend dinner with you.”
The Brahman then stumbled upon a jackal that asked him what the matter was. He explained and told the jackal how I tricked him into letting me escape so I could eat him. I thought this jackal was an idiot. He seemed to be confused as the Brahman explained the situation. I became tense and angry.
“Come! Let's go back to the spot this all happened so I can explain to you, jackal,” I exclaimed. “Here we are.” I and the Brahman explained the story to the jackal at least ten times, but he could not understand the part about the cage. In a blind rage, I decided to give him a play by play of what happened. I raced back to the cage and got inside to try and show the jackal what happened. As soon as I did this he closed the door and locked me inside the cage.
I was tricked by the jackal, for I thought that he was an idiot, but it turned out that I was the idiot. Now I sit here on my death bed, in a cage telling my story to anyone who will listen.
Author's Note
I based my story off of
The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal by Joseph Jacobs in the Mythology and Folklore Un-Textbook. I really enjoyed this story and wanted to retell it. The reason why I really enjoyed this story was because there were so many levels of trickery in it. I basically retold the story in the same way as the original. I left out the road as the third thing the Brahman came in contact with because I felt that the first two were fine enough. The only major difference I made was instead of telling the story with a narrator, I retold the story from the perspective of the Tiger. I think that telling it from his perspective put the reader in the eyes of the Tiger and the situation. Throughout the original story we learn the situation mostly from the Brahman's perspective. In my story the Tiger is the main character. Listening to his thought process you might feel bad for him or think that he is just getting his karma. If the Tiger would have let the Brahman live and walk away from him, then none of this would ever happen. He also has a temper. In a rage from the Jackal acting dumb he went inside to demonstrate what happen, and got trapped back into the cage!
