The Tiger Story – A Parable on Anger

Once upon a time there lived a little girl in a jungle. Her parents were killed and she had to fend for herself. She was terribly afraid.

One day she came upon a baby tiger, whose mother had left. She cared for the tiger, and he grew well and they became best friends, playing and living together every day. One day, a man with a red shirt came into the jungle. He meant to do the little girl harm, and the tiger pounced upon him and killed him.

Time went by, and the little girl grew up and became a teenager. She wanted to explore the world a bit, and she decided to follow the path on which the red-shirted man had come. She and the tiger set off and by and by they came to a village. When they entered the village, the girl was amazed! So many people, and so much color and variety! She entered wholeheartedly. As they went down the street, they came upon a woman who was wearing a red shirt. The tiger immediately pounced upon her, but he didn’t kill her because, luckily, there were two policemen there and they shot the tiger with a tranquilizer dart. They put that sleeping tiger into a jail.

The girl was terrified without her tiger. There was no one to protect her. She felt vulnerable and anxious. So she went to the judge and explained, “I need my tiger to protect me!” The judge was a wise man, and he understood. So he replied, “I see that you need your tiger, but young lady, your tiger is dangerous to others.” So he gave the girl a leash and she promised to keep the tiger on the leash.

The next day, they came upon a person with a red shirt. The tiger got ready to pounce and started to growl. But the girl pulled on the leash and said “No tiger! This person means me no harm!” The tiger began to realize that the girl was smarter than he was. And he began to listen to her and obey her. After awhile she took off the leash, because the tiger and she had a strong respect for each other and the leash wasn’t necessary any more.

Provided by the Magical Jane Martin-