The Merchant, the Tiger & the 6 Judges
(India)
(continued)
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THE Merchant told his story and said to him, "Mama Jackal, Mama Jackal, do tell us what is your judgment?"

                The Jackal answered, "It is impossible for me to decide who is in the right and who in the wrong, unless I know exactly where each of you was at the time. Show me the place." So the Merchant and the Tiger returned to the place where they first met, and the Jackal went with them. When they got there, the Jackal said, "Now Merchant, show me where you stood."

                "Here," said the Merchant, standing by the iron tiger-cage.

                "Exactly there, was it?" asked the Jackal.

                "Exactly here," replied the Merchant.

                "Where was the Tiger, then?" asked the Jackal.

                "In the cage," answered the Tiger.

                "How do you mean?" said the Jackal, "how were you within the cage; which way were you looking?"

                "Why I stood so," said the Tiger, jumping into the cage, "and my head was on this side."

                "Very good," said the Jackal, "But I cannot decide the matter until I have all the facts. Was the cage door open, or shut?"

                "Shut, and bolted," said the Merchant.

                "Then shut, and bolt it," said the Jackal.

                When the Merchant had done this, the Jackal said, "Oh, you wicked and ungrateful Tiger! When the good Merchant opened your cage door, is to eat him the only return you would make? Stay there for the rest of your days, for no one will ever let you out again. Proceed on your journey, friend Merchant. Your road lies that way, and mine this."

                So saying, the Jackal ran off in one direction, and the Merchant went rejoicing on his way in the other.

Caroline, age 9

Flourish

 
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SOURCE
The story, "The Merchant, the Tiger and the Six Judges" is adapted from the story, "The Brahmin, the Tiger, and the Six Judges", from Old Deccan Days, pgs. 198-202.
Adapted by Elaine L. Lindy ©2000.  



FOOTNOTE Other variations of this story appear in Indian folk lore. In a substory of the story, "The Cat and the Dog" from Indian Fairy Tales by Maive Stokes (Ellis & White, London, 1880) p 17, a man removes a thorn from a tiger and the tiger springs upon him. A jackal and a dog come up and the jackal tricks the tiger into stepping inside a big bag.




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