"Oh, but this is only the second, Brother Tiger; you promised to ask
five."
The Tiger grumbled a good deal, but at last he went on again with the
Brahmin. And after a time they saw an Eagle, high overhead. The
Brahmin called up to him imploringly,--
"Oh, Brother Eagle, Brother Eagle! Tell us if it seems to you 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 eyrie, men stone my young and rob my nest 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. And in a little
while they saw an old Alligator, lying half buried in mud and slime, at
the river's edge.
"Brother Alligator, oh, 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, and snorted; then he
said,
"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!" he begged.
Finally, the Tiger walked on with him.
After a time, they met the little Jackal, coming gayly down the road
toward them.
"Oh, Brother Jackal, dear Brother Jackal," said the Brahmin, "give us
your opinion! Do you think it right or fair that this Tiger should eat
me, when I set him free from a terrible cage?"
"Beg pardon?" said the little Jackal.
"I said," said the Brahmin, raising his voice, "do you think it is fair
that the Tiger should eat me, when I set him free from his cage?"
"Cage?" said the little Jackal, vacantly.
"Yes, yes, his cage," said the Brahmin. "We want your opinion. Do you
think--"
"Oh," said the little Jackal, "you want my opinion? Then may I beg you
to speak a little more loudly, and make the matter quite clear? I am a
little slow of understanding. Now what was it?"
"Do you think," said the Brahmin, "it is right for this Tiger to eat
me, when I set him free from his cage?"
"What cage?" said the little Jackal.
"Why, the cage he was in," said the Brahmin. "You see--"
"But I don't altogether understand," said the little Jackal, "You 'set
him free,' you say?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" said the Brahmin.
"It was this way: I was walking along, and I saw the Tiger--"
"Oh, dear, dear!" interrupted the little Jackal; "I never can see
through it, if you go on like that, with a long story. If you really
want my opinion you must make the matter clear. What sort of cage was
it?"
"Why, a big, ordinary cage, an iron cage," said the Brahmin.
"That gives me no idea at all," said the little Jackal. "See here, my
friends, if we are to get on with this matter you'd best show me the
spot. Then I can understand in a jiffy. Show me the cage."
So the Brahmin, the Tiger, and the little Jackal walked back together
to the spot where the cage was.
"Now, let us understand the situation," said the little Jackal.
"Brahmin, where were you?"
"I stood here by the roadside," said the Brahmin.
"Tiger, where were you?" said the little Jackal.
"Why, in the cage, of course," roared the Tiger.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, Father Tiger," said the little Jackal, "I
really am SO stupid; I cannot QUITE understand what happened. If you
will have a little patience,--HOW were you in the cage? What position
were you in?"
"I stood here," said the Tiger, leaping into the cage, "with my head
over my shoulder, so."
"Oh, thank you, thank you," said the little Jackal, "that makes it MUCH
clearer; but I still don't QUITE understand--forgive my slow mind--why
did you not come out, by yourself?"
"Can't you see that the door shut me in?" said the Tiger.
"Oh, I do beg your pardon," said the little Jackal. "I know I am very
slow; I can never understand things well unless I see just how they
were if you could show me now exactly how that door works I am sure I
could understand. How does it shut?"
"It shuts like this," said the Brahmin, pushing it to.
"Yes; but I don't see any lock," said the little Jackal, "does it lock
on the outside?"
"It locks like this," said the Brahmin. And he shut and bolted the door!
"Oh, does it, indeed?" said the little Jackal. "Does it, INDEED!
Well, Brother Brahmin, now that it is locked, I should advise you to
let it stay locked! As for you, my friend," he said to the Tiger, "I
think you will wait a good while before you'll find any one to let you
out again!"
Then he made a very low bow to the Brahmin.
"Good-by, Brother," he said. "Your way lies that way, and mine lies
this; good-by!"