The hotter his temper grew, the more he lost his good sense. Unable to do any harm, the tiger flew into a passion of rage. He clawed at the rock to pull it open to get at the toad and to tear him to pieces. Old Mountain Uncle was so mad with rage and hunger that his craftiness turned into stupidity. Before he could lash out in anger, the toad hopped into a crack between the rocks, and crawling far inside, defied the tiger. It was only when at last the toad decided in favour of the man, that old Mountain Uncle noticed the priest was long gone. Now while the toad and the tiger were studying the trap,the priest ran off and saved himself by reaching the monastery gates. So all three leaped, bopped, or walked to the trap. "I must go and see the trap before I can make up my mind," said the toad, who looked as solemn as a judge. The priest's heart sank, while the tiger licked his lips. The toad, with his gold-rimmed eyes, looked very wise, and instead of answering quickly, as the tree and rock did, thought for a long time. The tiger felt ashamed, but his eyes glared with hunger Now he proposed to make a toad the final judge. It is shockingly bad manners even to think of such a thing." You will be no fit messenger of the Mountain Lord if you are so ungrateful as to eat the man who saved you from starvation or death in the trap. Your master, the Mountain Spirit, will certainly punish you if you eat up this priest. "The man is certainly right, honourable Mountain Uncle, and you are wholly wrong. However, he allowed the man to appeal once more, this time to a big rock. Old Mountain Uncle was not satisfied yet, especially as the priest was unusually fat and would make a very good dinner. The spirit in the tree spoke through the rustling leaves and declared that the man should go free and that the tiger was both ungrateful and besides, had extremely bad manners. I say he has no right, because I have saved him.” Is it right that he should now eat me up? The tiger says he has a right to eat me because he is hungry. Be the judge of our quarrel.I have just saved the life of Mountain Uncle. As a last hope, the man cried out to a big tree. The tiger swished his tail, a sure sign that he meant to eat the priest in a moment. To say the least, it was very bad manners and entirely against the law of the mountains. The priest, very much surprised, protested that this was no way to thank somebody for saving his life. Nevertheless, as I am very hungry, I must eat you up." "I am deeply grateful to you, sir, for helping me out of my trouble. Old Mountain Uncle expressed his thanks saying to the shaven headed priest: The priest lifted up one of the logs and slid it down, until it rested on the bottom of the pit. When he heard an animal moaning, he opened the trap and saw old Mountain Uncle at the bottom licking his bruised paw. Yes, the hunter had hidden the pit with sticks and leaves, vines and brushwood, and above it had hung a broken mirror to trick Old Mountain Uncle.īy and by, a Buddhist priest came along, who believed in being kind to all living creatures. There was no tiger to be seen, but instead a heavy lid of logs had closed over his head with a crash and he lay in darkness. Mountain Uncle was sure that there would be a terrible struggle, but of course he expected to win.īut after a tremendous leap in the air, he landed in the bottom of a deep pit, bruised and disappointed. To his surprise the other tiger did exactly the same things. He stopped, twitched his tail most ferociously, growled terribly, and got ready to spring. He was very hungry and hoped for game.Īs he came around a great rock, Mountain Uncle suddenly saw a big tiger like himself - or so he thought. Though far from any village, he kept a sharp lookout for traps and hunters, but none seemed to be near. One day in autumn, Mountain Uncle was rambling among the lower hills. There he would prowl around the stables, the cattle enclosures, or the pig-pens, in hope of catching a tasty dinner. In winter, when heavy snow, biting winds, and terrible cold kept human beings within doors, old Mountain Uncle would slink down to the villages. In summer he kept among the high hills and lived on fat deer. He boasted to his fellow tigers that he had never been wounded by any bullet while as for traps, he knew all about them and laughed at the tricks used by man to try and steal his wondrous skin. Hunters called him ‘The Mountain Uncle’, but they rarely caught sight of him. There was once a striped tiger that lived among the highlands of Kang Wen in Korea. Proofed & audio edited by Jana Elizabeth.
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