Once upon a time there was a
man who one day was pursued by a ferocious tiger named Nana. To
escape from him, the man climbed as fast as he could into the nearest tree. Showing no pity, the tiger tried to catch hold of the man’s right foot, which
was resting on a broken branch. With a horrendous aggressive roar, he bounded
into the air toward his prey. The man immediately drew up his right foot and,
with his last strength, climbed up a little bit farther toward the top of the
tree. The mouth of the tiger, gaping wide, instead of biting the man’s foot,
closed down on the broken branch. The tiger couldn’t get loose. A sharp and
unbearable pain spread through his mouth.
The more he twisted and turned trying to free himself, the more
deeply he hooked himself on the point of the broken branch. Blood began flowing
from his mouth, down along his muscular neck, and down along his empty belly. Nana shrieked with pain and begged the man to help him. Seeing such a noble
beast suffering so horribly, the man felt his heart fill with a feeling of
compassion that replaced his terror. He quickly climbed down out of the tree
and lifted up Nana the tiger best he could in an effort to get his mouth off
the hook of the pointed branch. At last free, the tiger regained his spirits
and jumped on the man again with the intention of devouring him. The man,
stunned, cried out, “I just
saved your life. Could it be that you are so wicked and ungrateful that you
want to eat me?”
Nana knew nothing but the law of the strongest. He knew nothing
of gratitude and nothing of compassion. He expressed his way of seeing things,
and the man shouted and expressed his regret for his act of kindness. They had
been arguing a good while when a hare approached and asked them what it was
they were arguing about. Glad to have somebody willing to listen to him, the
man readily recounted to the hare what had happened. Very slyly the long-eared animal pretended not to fully understand the
situation. He told them that he could help them determine which of them
was right, but he would have to gain a better understanding of the situation.
He asked them to show him what position each of them had been in
so he could sort out their disagreement. Right away the man, who had understood
the hare’s plan, climbed back up the tree, and Nana, who was without doubt
ferocious but also stupid, leaped up as he had before, his mouth open, and once
again got himself hooked on the broken branch. Once again the beast shrieked
with pain and begged the man for help. At this moment, the sly hare calmly
said, “So there you have it. The situation is back the way it was before your
argument. Now you
have a second chance to think over carefully just what it is you want to do.”
The Daily Enlightenment.com
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