The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal

Illustrations by Gina Triplett

This story comes from the country of India. A Brahman is a holy man, similar to a monk.

     Once upon a time there was a fearsome tiger who had been caught in a great strong 
     trap.  He tried in vain to get past the tough bars but could not.  Luckily for him it
     was not too long before a Brahman, a holy man, happened to walk by.



     He called to the Brahman, "Please let me out of this cage, my friend.  I am so 
     miserable in here!"  The Brahman looked at the tiger and thought for a moment. 
     "I cannot do that," he said softly.  "I am afraid that you would eat me as soon
     as you were free."


     "Oh, no!" the tiger pleaded. "I promise I would never do such a thing.  I would 
     be most grateful for your help!"  The Brahman listened to the tiger's many oaths 
     and finally his heart softened.  He went to the cage, opened the door and released 
     the great beast.


     Immediately the tiger leaped upon the poor man, pinning him to the ground.  "Fool!" 
     he cried, "I've been hungry in there for so long.  Did you really think I would pass 
     up an easy meal?"

     The Brahman, frightened out of his wits, began to plead even louder than the tiger 
     had before.  He begged and begged until it was the tiger's turn to reconsider.



     The tiger twitched his whiskers, flexed his long claws and thought about the matter.  
     After a few moments he said, "You feel I have been ungrateful.  If you can find three 
     things who agree with you then I will allow you to go free."


     The Brahman quickly got up and set about his task.  He walked as fast as he could, 
     nervously wringing his hands.  Soon a large tree came into view. After explaining 
     the situation to the tree, it replied,"What? You seek my sympathy with a story like 
     that?  I freely give shelter and shade to everyone that passes, and what do I get 
     in return?  They rip my tender branches off of me to feed to their wretched cows."


     "Don't bother me with such ridiculous whining.  Stand up tall like me and just accept 
     your fate!"  Even the road itself gave no sympathy to his problem.  So the Brahman 
     went on his way until he came upon a buffalo turning a well-wheel.  He explained his 
     situation to her but she only scoffed.


     "You are indeed a fool," she said coldly.  "You ask for gratitude?  For years I provided 
     milk to my owners, helping them feed their children.  Now that I am old and have no 
     more milk to give, they tie me to this wheel to work like a slave.  Begone and do not 
     bother me with your whimpering!"

     Even the road itself gave no sympathy to his problem.  "Gratitude? Hah! I sit here 
     providing a service to everyone in the country.  All of them, big and small, rich and 
     poor, they all use me to get where they are going but all I get in return is the ash 
     from their pipes and the trash from their pockets.  Leave me alone and go face your 
     fate."



     The poor Brahman turned back with a heavy heart.  Along the way a jackal stopped 
     him and asked, "Why, holy man, you seem so sad.  Whatever is the matter?"  He 
     explained the entire story and the jackal exclaimed,  "Oh dear, I am so confused. 
     Would you mind telling me that again?"  So the Brahman told the story once more, 
     this time being sure to go into greater detail.


     Again the jackal shook his head and confessed,  "Oh my, it just doesn't seem to make 
     any sense.  I just can't seem to understand.  Perhaps we should return to the scene of 
     the event so that I may see for myself what has happened."


     The Brahman sadly agreed and they both started back.  When they arrived, the tiger 
     smiled with all of his sharp teeth and licked his furry chops.  "You've been gone for 
     a while," he said,  "But I see it's now time for dinner."


     But the Brahman begged him to give just five more minutes. "Please, sir, but this 
     jackal is having trouble understanding what happened. Could you give me a chance 
     to clarify things for him?"


     "Very well," the tiger growled, "But make it quick."

     The Brahman tried again to explain the story to the jackal, taking care to mention the 
     tree, the buffalo, and the road, but still he was confused.  "I suppose I am too slow 
     in my wits to make heads or tails of this," the jackal said, wringing his paws and 
     waggling his big ears.  "Could you perhaps explain it one more time?"



     So the Brahman, after sneaking a frightened glance at the impatient tiger, proceeded 
     to tell the story one more time.  He stretched it out as long as he possibly could, 
     going over every tiny detail one by one by one.  When he finished he sat back and 
     looked at the jackal expectantly.


     "Oh, my head, my head, my head!  It is spinning around and around! How will I ever
     come to understand this complex matter?"  At this the tiger's patience gave out. 
     "Idiot!" he screamed.  "How can you be so stupid? Here, it is not so hard to see."


     But as much as he tried, he still could not make the jackal comprehend.  "It's just 
     no use," the jackal exclaimed, "I will never be able to make sense of your words. 
     I just cannot seem to understand how this all began!"

     The tiger, furious and insulted that his efforts didn't work, snarled at the poor 
     animal.  "Then I will just have to show you, you stupid creature."  "Now pay attention,
    "he growled. "I am the tiger," and he pointed to himself.



     "Yes, my lord," the jackal replied.  "And this is the Brahman," and he pointed to the 
     Brahman.


     "Yes, my lord."


     "And this is the cage," and he pointed to the cage.


     "Yes, my lord."


     "And when the Brahman first found me I was in the cage, like this." And the tiger 
     crawled back into the cage to demonstrate.


     "Now do you understand how this all began?" he asked impatiently.


     "Oh, quite well, thank you," the jackal replied. And at this point he straightened up 
     and smoothly shut the door, locking the tiger back inside.  "And if you will permit 
     me to say, "the jackal continued with a smile, "this is how things will remain."

The End