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HOW THE TIGER GOT HIS STRIPES
Long ago in Vietnam, under a noontime sun of a hard harvest's day, a young farmer unhitched his water buffalo from his plow and sat down to eat his lunch under the shade of the banana plant near his land.
After the meal, the farmer slid down under the banana plant's broad leaves and watched his water buffalo at it lunched upon the broad-leaved grass growing on the dikes the farmer had built up around his rice fields. From time to time, the buffalo shook its curled horns against the flock of horseflies that tickled its flanks.
Suddenly, the buffalo bolted shock straight, flaring its nostrils in alarm.
A tiger sprang into the clearing.
"I have not come as an enemy," rumbled the tiger. "I am simply curious. Every day, I watch you from the edge of the forest. I am amazed at the spectacle of seeing you sweat and groan in service of your human master. That small, frail being has neither speed, sharp vision, or great strength; yet he has enslaved you and he alone profits off your work on his fields. How has he mastered you, a being ten times as massive?"
"To tell the truth," sighed the buffalo, "I have no answer. I only know that I am forever enslaved by his wisdom; this is his one power over me."
"'Wisdom?' This is all he uses to turn you towards his end?" He growled. "This is all it takes to enslave you? How selfish of this man to keep this 'Wisdom' for his own. If I had such 'Wisdom,' I would no longer exhaust myself hunting daily; I could keep all the animals slave, like you, and choose amongst them at leisure."
"Perhaps," the buffalo mumbled, "you should talk to the farmer about that;" and in an instant, the tiger flashed across the fields and stood before the farmer:
"Farmer!" the Tiger roared. "You have, I hear, a 'Wisdom' with which you dominate the animals you use in the fields. It seems to me unfair that your 'Wisdom' should provide you with what I have to toil away for with my strength and speed. I want your 'Wisdom'. It would greatly assist me in hunting."
"I wish I could help you," sighed the man. "Unfortunately, wife is using my wisdom at the moment. Perhaps I could ask her, she would allow you some wisdom. If you would wait here a moment, I'll go home and speak to her for you."
Turning to go, the farmer paused; "I hope you understand; I wouldn't want you to be tempted to devour my buffalo while I am gone. You would not mind if I bound you to this tree as a show of good faith?"
The tiger, still swimming in visions of enslaved antelope, pigs and oxen, consented, and the farmer passed his buffalo's binding around the tiger and the trunk of a massive tree.
By the time the farmer returned, the tiger was delirious with anticipation, but he could see no wisdom in the huge pile of dried straw the farmer was carrying.
The man did a slow circle of the tree, spreading the straw behind him. When he had come upon the start of the circle, he said, "Behold my wisdom!" the farmer shouted, and struck a spark to the straw.
A circle of flames sprang up, and the tiger raged and spun about the tree as the flames lanced and stung at him.
His binding caught fire, and the tiger howled in rage as the straps branded themselves against his hide. Eventually, the straps burned through, and he sprang from the circle and tore towards the forest, howling with pain. And so, although he survived the farmer's wisdom, the tiger's stripes remain as scars of the binding that the farmer used to trap him with that day.
Like the tiger, all too often we allow ourselves to be blinded by our own ambition, and accept binding agreements, ignorant of the other parties' agenda. Remember, a binding agreement can burn you, as it burned the tiger! Use caution before allowing yourself to be tied down; always read the fine print.
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