One day the tiger called his son and said to him:
“You, son, have become an adult, so be careful not to come close to the creature that is called a man.” The old tiger said so and died. The young tiger did not listen to his father’s advice, he only thinks about how to find out what a person is and measure his strength with him. One day he met a bull.
- Are you a person? - asked the tiger.
- I'm not a man, I'm a bull.
- Do you know the person?
- How can you not know, because I serve him. Do you see the ring in my nose? This is his doing. A man rides on my back and harnesses me to a cart.
- So the man is so huge?
- What are you talking about! It fits between my horns.
“It’s strange,” the tiger was surprised, “the man is so small, and the bull serves him.” He ran on. He met a camel.
- Are you a person? - asked the tiger.
- I'm not a man, I'm a camel. Why do you need a person?
“I want to measure my strength with him,” answered the tiger.
- Eh, dear, this is not what you have in mind. Yes, there is no one stronger than a person in the world!
- Is he very big and strong?
- No, he is very small. To take him on my back, I have to kneel down.
“Do you really serve man too?”
- Look at the ring in my nostrils. This is his doing. He pulls the ring so that I obey him.
- Strange! - exclaimed the tiger.
- What's strange about that? A man's strength is in his mind. The mind gives him both power and strength.
The tiger ran further. “If a person is really small and weak, why should I deal with him?” he thought. “I should take away his mind!” A tiger ran into the forest, and a woodcutter came towards him.
-Have you seen a man? - asks the tiger.
“I’m here, in front of you,” says the woodcutter. He was very scared, but he didn’t show it. The tiger looks, and he is truly a small man; with one blow you can knock the wind out of him.
- Do you have the strength to fight me? — the tiger doubted.
- Of course, dear, because my strength is in my mind!
- Show me your mind! - demanded the tiger.
- If you please. I just left my mind at home today. Let's come to my place, I'll show you my mind.
They ran side by side, the tiger and the man. Not far from the house, the woodcutter stopped and said:
“Don’t go any further with me, dear sir, or the yard dogs will rush at you.” I'll turn around in a second!
The man stepped towards the house and suddenly stopped.
- Oh, I'm afraid! - he exclaimed.
-What are you afraid of? — the tiger was surprised.
“I’m afraid that you might grab my back.”
“What a coward!” - thought the tiger and suggested:
- Okay, tie me to the tree and go into the house quickly. Bring your mind!
The woodcutter tied the tiger tightly and left. He returned with a large armful of brushwood, piled it near the tree to which the tiger was tied, and said:
- So I fulfilled my promise. Now you will know what the human mind is!
And he began to strike a fire, then lit a fire and ran away.
The tiger began to get hot, but then, fortunately, the rope burned out, he jumped out of the fire and took off running.
Since then, the tiger’s skin has been striped, this is the mark of the fire, when the tiger realized that it was no good for him to compete with a person’s mind.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru