One day, while walking through a forest, a man suddenly came across a tiger. The hungry tiger wanted to devour him immediately. Terrified, the man pleaded for mercy, telling the tiger that he himself was starving, and had not had any food in a week. The tiger however, refused and insisted on eating him.

Just then, an ox passed by. The man asked the ox if it was right to kill him. But the ox replied that men could not be trusted, for he himself had been exploited by men- taken in by humans when young, only to be abandoned as he grew older. The ox advised the tiger not to spare the man, and then went away.

After the ox had passed, a goat came by. The man hoped the goat would support his cause, but instead, the goat too was suspicious of man’s nature and refused support.

At last, a saint happened to pass the man and the tiger. The saint said, “I don’t believe that the tiger really lives in this cave. If the tiger enters this cave, then I will be able to judge fairly.” Hearing this, the tiger entered the cave to prove his that he indeed did live in the cave. As the tiger did so, the saint immediately pushed stones to block the entrance and trapped the tiger inside. The saint had saved the man’s life.

He then advised the man never to trust violent, flesh-eating creatures, for they lack judgment and righteousness. Grateful, the man bowed to the saint for saving his life.

A Folktale sourced by Varleen Kaur from “Tribal Folk Tales and Folklore in Odisha” published in the Odisha Review (ISSN 0970-8669)

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