The Tiger and the Boy

A tiger lived in a forest. It hunted animals daily and lived happily. Days rolled on. The tiger grew old. It lost its strength and couldn’t hunt animals as before. The tiger planned a novel idea so that it can make easy hunt on its prey.

The tiger sat on the bank of a lake. It had two golden bangles. It kept the bangles on one hand and a rosary on other. It posed like a sage and wanted to deceive the animals prey.

A brahmin boy came by that way, saw the aged tiger with the golden bangles and rosary in its hands. The tiger wanted to kill the boy and eat him. The tiger called the boy to come near and get the bangles as a presentation.

The brahmin boy was very interested in getting the golden bangles. It would help him in relieving his poverty. However, he thought of the tiger and its nature of killing its prey. Hence, he hesitated to go nearer to the tiger.

The tiger told the boy to believe it. It did not want the bangles. It had converted itself into a vegetarian and became a sage. It advised the boy to take bath in the lake and get the bangles from it.

The boy believed the words of the tiger. With a lot of desire, he went into the lake for taking bath. He was caught in the mud inside the lake and was struggling to come out of the lake. The tiger expected this situation and pounced on the boy, and killed him for its food. The boy died due to his desire for golden bangles.

Moral:Desire is one of the root cause for all the evils in this world.