[Illustration: Brahmin and tiger.]
Once upon a time there lived in India a very good man. He was a Brahmin,
or priest, and he had such a kind heart that he could not bear to see
anything suffer. Everyone loved him, because he was so good to all the
poor people and so gentle with the beasts.
One day, as the Brahmin was walking along the road, he saw a huge Tiger
who had been caught by the villagers and put in an iron cage to punish
him for his wickedness.
“Brother Brahmin, Brother Brahmin,” moaned the Tiger, “pray have pity on
me and let me out of this cruel cage for one little minute, so that I
may get a drink of water for I am dying of thirst.”
“Oh, no, Brother Tiger,” answered the Brahmin, “I could not do that, for
you are being punished for your wickedness. Moreover if I should let you
out of your cage, you would eat me up.”
“In truth, I would not,” answered the Tiger. “I would never do such an
ungrateful thing. Have pity on me, kind Brother Brahmin, I pray!”
Then the Brahmin, feeling sorry for the Tiger, unlocked the cage door.
But the moment he opened the door, the Tiger sprang out upon him,
growling, “Gurr! gurr! gurr-r-r! Now I will eat you first and drink the
water afterwards.”
“Why, Brother Tiger!” said the Brahmin, “do not kill me so hastily. You
promised not to eat me, and now, when I set you free, you break your
word. Is that fair, or just? Is that according to the law?”
“Gurr! gurr! gurr-r-r!” growled the Tiger. “I care not whether it is
fair or just. I learned no law in the jungle. Man is the food for the
beast.”
“But, Brother Tiger, you must listen to reason,” said the Brahmin. “We
will ask six judges if you are keeping your word to me, and if each one
of them says that you should kill me, then I am willing to die.”
“Very well,” agreed the Tiger, “we will ask the judgment of six and if
they all say that you are to die, I shall kill you, but if anyone of
them grants you your life, I will have to let you go.”
So the Brahmin and the Tiger walked to a Banyan tree, and the Brahmin
said:
“Oh, Banyan tree, Banyan tree, hear and give judgment!”
“On what must I give judgment?” asked the Banyan tree.
“This Tiger was caught in a cruel cage,” said the Brahmin. “He was
thirsty and begged piteously for a drink of water. He promised not to
hurt me if I set him free. But when I did so, he sprang upon me to kill
me. Do you think it fair and just for him to break his word?”
The Banyan tree rustled his leaves and whispered in a mournful voice,
“Men take shelter under my boughs from the scorching rays of the sun.
Yet when I have protected them and they are rested, they break my pretty
branches and scatter my leaves and take my fruit. Men certainly are an
ungrateful race! So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Now, Brother Brahmin,” growled the Tiger, “I shall eat you.”
“One moment, Brother Tiger,” begged the Brahmin. “We agreed to ask six
judges, and we have had the opinion of only one. You must not eat me
yet.”
“Very well,” said the Tiger, and they went on till they met a Camel.
“Brother Camel, Brother Camel,” cried the Brahmin. “Hear and give
judgment.” The Brahmin then told how he had opened the cage door for the
Tiger and how the Tiger had broken his word. “Do you call that just, or
right, Brother Camel?” asked the Brahmin.
“As just and right as I am treated by man,” snorted the Camel, gnashing
his teeth in rage. “When I was young and strong and could carry a heavy
load for my master, he took care of me and gave me food and shelter. Now
I am old and have lost my strength in the service, and so he overloads
me, starves me and beats me. Men are an unjust and cruel race. So I say
let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Now, Brother Brahmin,” growled the Tiger, “I shall eat you.” And he
sprang towards the Brahmin.
“Stop! Brother Tiger, stop!” said the Brahmin. “We have heard only the
judgment of two.”
“Very well,” answered the Tiger.
At a little distance they found a poor old Bullock, lying by the side of
the road.
“Brother Bullock, Brother Bullock,” said the Brahmin. “Hear and give
judgment.” Then the Brahmin explained the whole story again and said,
“Do you call that fair or just?”
[Illustration: “Brother Camel, Brother Camel,” cried the Brahmin....
“Hear and give judgment.”]
[Illustration: “Brother Camel, Brother Camel,” cried the Brahmin....
“Hear and give judgment.”]
“When I was able to work,” answered the Bullock, “my master fed me and
treated me very carefully. Now I am old, he has forgotten all I ever did
for him and has left me by the roadside to die. Men show no mercy to the
beasts. So I say, let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“You hear that, Brother Brahmin?” growled the Tiger. “Now I shall eat
you up.”
“Pray, Brother Tiger, have patience! We have met only half of our
judges. I still have three more to ask.”
“Very well,” answered the Tiger, and they went on together.
After a time they saw an Eagle flying through the air. “Brother Eagle,
Brother Eagle,” shouted the Brahmin, “fly down here and give judgment.”
The Eagle came soaring slowly down and sat upon a rock. Then the Brahmin
told his whole story and said, “Do you think that it is fair, or just of
the Tiger to eat me after I set him free?”
“Well,” answered the Eagle, “men are not fair nor just to me. Whenever
men see me, they try to shoot me and they climb the rocks to spoil my
nest and steal my little ones. Men know no pity. They seek only to slay
us. So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
“Hear that, Brother Brahmin? Now I shall have to kill you,” growled the
Tiger.
“Have patience, Brother Tiger,” answered the Brahmin. “We have yet two
more judges to ask.”
“Very well,” said the Tiger, and they went on their way.
Presently they came to a river and in the mud they saw an old Alligator.
The Brahmin told him the whole story hoping that the Alligator would
give him a favorable answer. But the Alligator in great anger snorted
out:
“Humph! I hunt no man, but, whenever I put my nose out of the water, men
torment me and try to kill me. As long as men live, we shall have no
peace. So I say let the Tiger eat the Brahmin.”
Then the Tiger, sprang toward the Brahmin. “This time I shall eat you
up, for all are against you.”
“One moment!” said the Brahmin. “I still have one opinion of the sixth
judge.”
So the Tiger was obliged to wait, and by and by they met a little Jackal
who came gaily prancing down the road.
“Oh, Brother Jackal! dear little Brother Jackal,” called the Brahmin,
“please do stop a minute and give judgment.”
“On what must I give judgment?” barked the little Jackal.
Again the Brahmin told his story and asked, “Do you think it just, or
fair that the Tiger should eat me up after I set him free from that
cruel cage?”
“Cage, cage, cage?” asked the little Jackal in a perplexed tone. “I
don’t quite understand. What sort of cage was it?”
“Why, a big iron cage down in the village,” answered the Brahmin. “The
men had caught the Tiger to punish him for his wickedness. When I came
down the road he begged for a drink of water and promised he would not
eat me, if I set him free. But when I opened the cage-door, he sprang
upon me to kill me. Do you call that fair, or just?”
“Dear me, dear me!” said the little Jackal. “How can I decide who is
right or wrong until I see the cage and the exact position you were in
when the quarrel began? Show me the place and I will try to judge.”
So the Brahmin and the Tiger and the little Jackal went back to the
place where the empty cage stood.
“Oh, is that the cage?” asked the Jackal.
“Yes, yes,” answered the Brahmin.
“Well, Brahmin, show me exactly where you stood,” said the Jackal.
“Here,” said the Brahmin. “I stood here in the road looking in the cage
at the cruel Tiger.”
“Where were you, Tiger?” asked the Little Jackal.
“Why, I stood in the cage, so!” answered the Tiger jumping into the
cage, “and my head was leaning against the iron bars, so!”
“Very good, very good!” said the little Jackal. “But I cannot give
judgment until I understand a little more. Why did you not come out by
yourself, Tiger? Was the cage-door open, or shut?”
“Why, the cage-door was shut and bolted!” answered the Brahmin.
“Then shut and bolt it,” said the Jackal, “for I must see how all this
happened.”
The Brahmin shut and bolted the cage-door and, turning to the Jackal, he
said, “Now give us your judgment, Brother Jackal.”
“Ha-ha-ha!” barked the little Jackal, joyously. “Leave it locked! Leave
it locked, Brother Brahmin! Oh, you wicked and ungrateful Tiger! After
the good Brahmin was kind enough to open the cage-door, was it fair, or
just, for you to spring upon him to kill him? You may stay in that cage
all the rest of your life. Goodbye, Brother Brahmin, goodbye,” said the
little Jackal. “My way leads this way and your way leads that. Goodbye!”
And away ran the little Jackal in one direction while Brother Brahmin
went on his way, rejoicing that he was safe. And shut up in the cage,
the old Tiger roared in a rage.
[Illustration: Birds and flowers.]