The tale of the tiger who searched for a man is one of the folktale stories from around the world. The story revolves around a tiger who wishes to meet a man. If you are seeking animal folktales, short stories for kids, or especially animal stories for kids, this might be a good one. Happy storytelling!
Once upon a time, there was a tiger living in a jungle. This jungle was very large and was home to various types of animals. The tiger lived there, thinking there was no one stronger than him in the entire world. Therefore, it walked around the entire jungle and scared off every animal. So, he lived as he pleased, doing whatever he wanted.
One day, after having a good meal until his tummy was full, this tiger was happily lying under the shadow of a tree. In a while, the tiger heard someone calling him from the top of the tree. The tiger was wondering who had the guts to call him. So it looked up.
It was a bird who sounds like whistling ‘coo-ee‘.
“What?” the tiger asked the bird.
“Oh, you think you are the strongest in the world. don’t you?” the bird asked from the tiger.
“Yeah,” the tiger proudly replied.
“You are the wrong tiger. There is one who is stronger than you.” The bird said,.
The tiger stood on his four legs, lightening speed, and asked, “A one greater than myself?” The rough voice of the tiger scared off the other birds that were on the surrounding trees. “That is impossible! Well, let’s say who it is.” The tiger asked angrily.
“That is the man!” The bird flew away, returning to the tiger.
The tiger had not seen a man in his entire life. So he walked through the jungle, thinking about what kind of man a man can be. On the way, the tiger met a wolf.
“Are you a man?”. The tiger asked the wolf if it was a man.
The wolf replied and asked, “Oh no. Why did you ask so?”
The tiger replied, “I want to see what a man is like.”
The wolf replied, “Well, if you see a man, you will be afraid. They are more powerful than you. They will kill you.”
Though the tiger had a little fear, it smiled. Again, he continued walking through the jungle, looking for a man. On the way, the tiger met a sambar deer.
The tiger asked, “Are you a man?” from the sambar deer.
The sambar deer replied, “No, why did you ask so?”
“I just want to see what a man is like. that’s all”. The tiger replied like it even didn’t care much.
The sambar deer said, “You are a fool to go to see humans. They are stronger than you. I warn you.”
Again, the tiger smiled and left off, looking for a human. On the way, the tiger met with a deer. The tiger asked the same question of the deer too. The answers from the deer were also the same. But the tiger did not believe the things that the wolf, sambar deer, and deer said. The tiger continued to walk again and again like this, looking for a human.
While walking like this, the tiger met with a weird animal with only two legs who was cutting a tree. The tiger stared at those weird animals with a lot of surprise. It did not know it was a human. The tiger went so close to this weird animal.
The weird animal looked back. It only saw the tiger at that moment. The man asked, “What do you want?”
The tiger said, “I want to see what a man is like.”.
The man replied, “What a foolish animal you are. Don’t you know how strong a human is? It is very dangerous to meet a man.”
But the tiger did not believe the weird animal. He said, “What a lie?”.
Then the man asked the tiger, “Alright. You want to see what a man is like?”
Tiger replied, “Yes.”.
“Okay. Then let me tie you to this tree. Then you can see what a man is like.” The man said,.
The tiger agreed to that. The man tied the tiger to the tree with a rope very tightly. Then the man took a bow and an arrow. Stood in front of the tiger. Put the arrow on the bow string. Pulled back. And shoot. The arrowhead slided through the skin of the tiger’s neck and stuck on the tree.
The tiger shouted in pain. “Let me go.” “I know who a man is. You are the man. I understand the man is more powerful than me. Now let me go.” The tiger screamed and begged the man.
Then, the man cut off the rope and released the tiger. He advised the tiger. “Well. Now go back to the jungle. Don’t ever come back to where people are.”
From that day on, not only the tiger, but none of the animals in the jungle were afraid of man. And they don’t come anywhere near people.