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The Priest, the Tiger and the Jackal

Retold by: Ajay Jaiman

One day a priest was walking along a country road when he came upon a tiger, shut up in a strong iron cage. The villagers had caught him and shut him up there because he had started preying on their fowl and cattle.

As soon as the tiger saw the priest, he pleaded, "Oh, Brother Brahmin, please let me out to get a little drink! I am so thirsty, and there is no water here."

"But," said the Brahmin, "you know if I should let you out, you will spring on me and eat me up."

"Never, Brother Brahmin!" said the tiger with much force. "Never in the world would I do such an ungrateful thing! Just let me out for a minute, to get a little drink of water."

So the priest unlocked the door and let the tiger out. The moment the creature was out he sprang on the priest, and was about to eat him up.

The frightened priest quickly said, "But, Brother Tiger, you promised you would not eat me. It is not fair that you should eat me, when I was the one who set you free."

The tiger refused to give up his dinner. "It is perfectly right and just," he growled, "and I shall eat you up." However, the priest argued so hard that at last the tiger agreed to wait and ask the first five creatures whom they met, whether it was fair for him to eat the priest or not.

The first thing they came to was an old banyan tree. "Brother Banyan," said the priest eagerly, "Does it seem right that this Tiger should eat me, when I set him free from his cage?"

The Banyan Tree looked down at them and spoke in a tired voice. "In the summer," he said, "when the sun is hot, men come and sit in the cool of my shade and refresh themselves with the fruit of my branches. But when evening falls, and they are rested, they break my twigs and scatter my leaves, and stone my boughs for more fruit. Men are an ungrateful race. Let the Tiger eat the Brahmin."

The Tiger sprang to eat the Brahmin, but the Brahmin said,-- "Wait, wait; we have asked only one. We have still four to ask." Presently they came to a place where an old Bullock was lying by the road.

The Brahmin went up to him and said,-- "Brother Bullock, does it seem fair that this tiger should eat me up, after I have freed him from a cage?"

The Bullock looked up, and answered in a deep, grumbling voice, "When I was young and strong my master used me hard, and I served him well. I carried heavy loads and carried them far. Now that I am old and weak and cannot work, he leaves me without food or water, to die by the wayside. Men are a thankless lot. Let the Tiger eat the Brahmin."

The Tiger sprang, but the Brahmin spoke very quickly, "Oh, but this is only the second, Brother Tiger; you promised to ask five." The tiger grumbled a good deal, but he went on again with the Brahmin.

After a time they saw an Eagle flying high overhead. The Brahmin called up to him imploringly, "Oh, Brother Eagle, tell us if it seems fair that this tiger should eat me up, when I have just saved him from a frightful cage?"

The Eagle soared slowly overhead a moment, then he came lower, and spoke in a thin, clear voice. "I live high in the air," he said, "and I do no man any harm. Yet as often as they find my nest, men stone my young and rob my nest of eggs and shoot at me with arrows. Men are a cruel breed. Let the Tiger eat the Brahmin!"

The Tiger sprang upon the Brahmin, to eat him up; and this time the Brahmin had very hard work to persuade him to wait. At last he did persuade him, however, and they walked on together.

In a while they saw an old Alligator, lying half buried in mud and slime, at the river's edge. "Brother Alligator!" said the Brahmin, "does it seem at all right or fair to you that this Tiger should eat me up, when I have just now let him out of a cage?"

The old Alligator turned in the mud, and grunted, "I lie here in the mud all day, as harmless as a pigeon; I hunt no man, yet every time a man sees me, he throws stones at me, and pokes me with sharp sticks, and jeers at me. Men are a worthless lot. Let the Tiger eat the Brahmin!"

At this the Tiger was bound to eat the Brahmin at once. The poor Brahmin had to remind him, again and again, that they had asked only four. "Wait till we've asked one more! Wait until we see a fifth! That will be the last." he begged.

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