Use your power wisely! This short fable story about animal tells us about it.

Strong Tiger and Brainy Mouse Deer

A tiger roared and said in a loud voice, “I’m the strongest animal in this jungle. No one dares to attack me. No one disobeys me. You must do whatever I want. You must agree whatever I say. The strength of my teeth, the sharpness of my claws, and the speed of my attack will punish everybody who disobeys my command. Now, I’m your king.”

All animals in Green Jungle bent their heads and did not dare to look at the tiger’s scary eyes as they knew that the tiger had defeated many animals, which had fought against him.

Since the day the tiger proclaimed himself as the king, all animals had to provide food for him and fulfil whatever he wanted. He punished everyone who could not satisfy him. In his dictatorship, nobody dared to protest.

Birds spread the bad news to another jungle and Mouse Deer from Eastern Jungle decided to help his friends in Green Jungle.

“Are you strong enough to fight against the tiger?” asked a canary.

“No,” answered Mouse Deer.

“Do you have sharp claws like what the tiger does?”

“No.”

“You will be his meal,” said Canary.

“The tiger will face his strongest rival,” said Mouse Deer.

“Who? Nobody in the jungle is stronger than him. You don’t think that you are his strongest rival, do you?” asked Canary in curiosity.

Mouse Deer just smiled and then walked on the road to Green Jungle.

In the morning, Mouse Deer visited TigerCave in Green Jungle. The tiger stared at his guest with his scary yellow eyes.

“Who are you? We haven’t met before. You must be new comer here,” said the tiger.

“I’m Mouse Deer.”

“What do you want? To be my meal or my slave?”

“Do you have more options for me? I have important information for you. Someone in this jungle plans to fight against you,” said Mouse Deer.

“I don’t think he can win.”

“He is as strong as you are. He is dangerous and wild,” said Mouse Deer.

“Where is he? I will show you that I’m stronger than he is,” said the tiger.

“I’ll show you his hiding place,” said Mouse Deer.

Both Mouse Deer and the tiger went down into a valley. Then, they stopped in front of a well.

“He hides there,” said Mouse Deer, pointing his hand toward the well.

With brave steps, the tiger walked to the well. From the edge of the well, he roared to frighten anyone who hid in the well. He heard someone inside the well roaring back. He did again louder and someone inside the well responded louder. He did not know it was the echoes of his sounds.

“How dare you to challenge me?”

His eyes bulged out and he saw an angry face of the tiger inside the well. He did not know that he only saw the reflection of his face on the surface of water in the well.

“I’ll finish you,” said the tiger, showing his sharp claws.

Then, the tiger leaped into the well. The water inside it splashed as the tiger plunged.

“What? It’s a trap!” said the tiger, moving his legs to swim.

“Tiger, you have strength but I have a brain,” said Mouse Deer at the edge of the well.

Tiger tried to jump but the well was too deep. He kept moving his legs to swim and held the wall of the well.

“You must learn this lesson.”

“You must learn to respect.”

As he heard some voices from the edge of the well, the tiger looked upward and he saw some animals who watched his condition. He shivered from cold water. He was aware of his mistake. He was aware that he also had a weakness.

“Friends, I’m sorry! I very much regret what I did! Help me!”

Mouse Deer and other animals saw the pitiful face of the tiger.

“Tiger, you must promise that you will not do the bad things anymore,” said Canary.

“Trust me! If I do it again, you can punish me,” said the tiger.

Mouse Deer threw the rope into the well and with other animals, drew the tiger from the well.

Since that day, the tiger respected the others and he was aware that forgiveness from the others made him survive. He was aware that he had to be wise in using his strength.

The End

This short story is written by Y.W.Purnomosidhi  a.k.a  Yohanes Wahyu Purnomosidhi (Facebook) . He is a blogger who loves to write fables.