One day a ferocious tiger got into a cage. In vain the terrible beast roared and fought against the iron bars - the trap was so strong that the tiger could not bend a single rod in it. But it so happened that at that time a traveler was passing nearby. Seeing him, the tiger shouted:
- Oh, good father! Have mercy on me! Let me out of the cage!
- Well, no! - said the traveler. “I’ll let you out, and you’ll eat me!”
- What are you, what are you, good sir! I swear to you that I will never again offend a single living being. From now on until the end of my days I will be a humble slave of man.
“If so,” the traveler rejoiced, “then I will let you out.”
With these words, he turned the bolt on the cage door. With one blow of his paw, the tiger opened the door and was free.
The man did not have time to take even a step when the tiger crushed him and growled:
- Stupid! Now I'll dine on you!
- What you! What you! - the poor fellow begged. - I saved you from death, and you want to eat me! Is this fair?!
- Stop talking about justice! - the tiger shouted. - There is no justice on earth!
- No, there is justice. You can ask anyone about this. Everyone will tell you that there is justice.
- Fine! - the tiger agreed. “Let’s ask the first three people we meet: if they say that there is justice, I will spare you.” But if I hear from them that there is no justice on earth, I will eat you without any further discussion!
The man and the tiger wandered through the jungle for a long time and finally saw a sad parrot on the branch of a banana tree.
“Listen, parrot,” the tiger shouted to him. - Tell us, is there justice on earth?
The parrot answered:
- I have lived in the world for a hundred years. And in my entire life I have never done any harm to anyone. And this morning a boa constrictor swallowed my chicks. There is no justice on earth!
- You see! - the tiger bared his fangs, - there is no justice!
“Let’s move on,” said the man. - Let's ask that palm tree.
They approached the palm tree and the tiger asked:
- Tell me, palm tree, is there justice on earth? The palm tree answered:
“For many years, people and animals escaped the heat in the shade of my leaves. But today at dawn a wild boar came to me and undermined my roots. And now I am doomed to death. There is no justice on earth!
- Right! There is no justice on earth! - the tiger growled and waved his tail, preparing to jump on the traveler.
- Wait! “You promised to ask three, but you only asked two.”
“Well, okay, let’s ask that jackal over there that is running towards us,” agreed the tiger.
When the jackal caught up with them, the traveler said to him:
- Listen to me and resolve our dispute. This tiger is caught in a cage. I heard his terrible roar, took pity on him, removed the bolt from the cage and released the tiger to freedom. And now he wants to eat me. Tell me, is this fair and doesn’t there exist justice in the world?
- Wait, wait, I didn’t understand anything from your story. Tell me this story again.
“This tiger fell into a trap,” the traveler began to tell again. “I heard his terrible roar, took pity on him and released him. And now the tiger wants to eat me. Tell me, is this fair, is there no justice in the world?
“Yes,” said the jackal thoughtfully, “it’s a very complicated story.” It's not easy to understand. So, you say that the tiger walked past the cage, heard your roar and removed the bolt...
“No,” the man interrupted the jackal. “It was just the opposite: the tiger roared in the cage, and I freed him.”
- Oh, I understand! - the jackal nodded his head: the cage roared in the tiger, and you saved the cage...
- Ugh, how stupid you are! - the tiger got angry. “I was in a cage, and a man walked by!” Understood?
“Don’t be angry with me, good sir,” groaned the jackal. - It’s very difficult to figure this out... If I myself had seen how everything happened, then it would be a different matter.
“Let’s go to the trap, there you will understand everything,” exclaimed the tiger. - And if you don’t understand, I’ll eat both you and him!
The man, the tiger and the jackal approached the trap, and the tiger said:
“I was sitting in this cage, you know?” And he walked past the cage. I screamed, he heard my scream, removed the bolt from the trap and freed me. Understand?
- I understand, now I understand! - the jackal was happy. - So, I was sitting in this cage, and the man heard... The cage was sitting in a trap, and he... Again, I’m saying the wrong thing! My poor head! I may never understand this complicated story.
- No, you will understand! - the tiger shouted in rage. “I’ll make you understand, and then I’ll eat you.” Listen! Look at me. I am a tiger. Understood?
- Got it, sir...
- And this is a man. Understood?
- Got it, sir.
- And this is a cage. Understood?
- Got it, sir.
- So, I, the tiger, was in this cage, and he, the man, passed by. Understood?
- Don’t be angry with me, sir, but I didn’t understand...
- Well, what don’t you understand, you such a fool?!
“I don’t understand how you could get into this cage.”
- What don’t you understand, unfortunate one? Answer now!
“It seems to me that you won’t even fit in such a small cage.” Yes, yes, of course, you will never fit in such a cage.
At this point the tiger lost all patience.
- So watch it if you don’t believe it! - he barked and flew into the cage with a flourish. - Now do you understand how it was?
- Understood! - the jackal shouted and slammed the cage shut.
“You see,” the man said to the tiger. “And you said that there is no justice in the world.” But in my opinion, since the tiger is sitting in a cage, it means there is justice on earth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru