# A story I wrote a long long time ago



## har134 (Oct 26, 2013)

This is a  story I found in my old backup archives. Written a long time ago. There were several like this one, but I liked this for its simplicity. Thoughts welcome. I am posting this unedited except for formatting.



THE STORY OF THE TIGER'S DINNER


The tiger was very hungry at that time and decided to catch some food, before it starved. The forest was now a part of the nearby village, and the tiger could not get its food. The villagers protected their animals well and the tiger lost its main source of food.  

There of course, was the fox, Wily who had been serving the tiger from time immemorial, and the tiger decided to get his help.  

Wily agreed to help the tiger, on condition that he got half the share of the tiger's dinner. Without a choice, the tiger accepted.  

Wily could not believe his luck. He saw fat cattle coming towards the grassland near the forest.

The cattle were not accompanied by the Cattleherd, and Wily felt pleased at this.  

He approached one extremely fat and healthy cow, and said,"Are you happy with your master?". The cow viewed this question with suspicion and refused to answer.

"I can get you nice, juicy grass, deeper inside the forest; follow me!", said Wily, trying again.
The cow kept munching the grass, ignoring Wily. Wily realised that the cow was suspicious of him, and left the place when he saw the Cattleherd coming back to regroup his herd.

The tiger got angry with Wily and would have killed him, had not Wily begged him to give him another chance.

"All right, this time! But if you return once more, without a nice, juicy cow or a deer, you're dead meat!". Wily nodded fearfully.

The next day, Wily had a better plan to catch the cow.

"That stupid creature cannot resist a nice, juicy offer this time!", said Wily to himself,"I shall pluck some juicy berries and fruits from the forest, and lure that creature here."

Wily adopted this plan, and approached the same cow, as before and asked,"Aren't you finding the grass too insipid, dear?".The cow did not reply to this.

Wily brought out a basket full of fruits and berries, and said, "I knew you would enjoy these goodies, I have brough them specially for you, from the forest.".

The cow ate a few berries, and got tempted by Wily's offer. "All right",said the cow,"I am sorry that I behaved so rudely before, Mr.Fox. Please forgive me.".

"Then come with me into the forest.", said Wily.The cow agreed, and thought that she would always come into the forest to graze.". Wily snickered at the success of his plan. But just to make sure that the tiger did not cheat him of his share, he made further plans to secure it.

The tiger came towards Wily. The cow felt frightened, but Wily said,"This is my master. Don't be scared of him. He will not harm innocent animals, like you.".

The tiger pounced on the cow, and killed her, even before she tried to escape. Wily carried out his plan.

"Your majesty. Let me taste the food, before you eat it.", said Wily. The tiger agreed.

Wily tore open the cow and took a piece of it and ate it. He suddenly fell down. "Sire, the cow is poisoned.", he said, struggling to breathe, "Don't eat him; you'll ... die!". With this Wily stopped struggling and became still. The tiger realised that Wily was just pretending; so he said, "O'friend! My best friend! I am nothing without you. I shall follow you to the grave by eating the poisoned food.". Wily became frantic, but could not get up. The tiger ate the cow fully, to Wily's shock, and coolly returned to his cave, leaving Wily bitterly regretting his actions.
 
[ THE END ]


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## Gavrushka (Oct 26, 2013)

Clean, crisp and enjoyable, with a moralistic slant.

I did try to predict the end, but I wasn't even close!

Thank you for sharing it. 

You handle the punctuation around the end of speech differently to the way I am used to using/seeing it, but that is of no consequence.


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## har134 (Oct 26, 2013)

Gavrushka said:


> Clean, crisp and enjoyable, with a moralistic slant.
> 
> I did try to predict the end, but I wasn't even close!
> 
> ...



Thanks. I wish my mind were as uncluttered now as it was back then when I was in school. My mind cooks up too many characters, complicated plots - all end up being trashed at one point.


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## Smith (Oct 26, 2013)

harishankar said:


> Thanks. I wish my mind were as uncluttered now as it was back then when I was in school. My mind cooks up too many characters, complicated plots - all end up being trashed at one point.



Don't worry man, same problem.

I actually really liked the story. Enjoyed the morale and lesson of it. ^_^


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## har134 (Oct 27, 2013)

Smith said:


> Don't worry man, same problem.
> 
> I actually really liked the story. Enjoyed the morale and lesson of it. ^_^



Thank you. It's amazing how reading novels can affect your short-storying writing skills. I've struggled with this for a long time. Always started writing, but never able to complete stories.


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## avid (Oct 27, 2013)

Dude, preach. I have the same problem with completion. It seems very common in most storytellers. 

I like the story. Sounds a fable aesop would think of, or something I would see on an old cartoon.

Short, and easy with a funny ending. Like it.


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## har134 (Oct 28, 2013)

avid said:


> Dude, preach. I have the same problem with completion. It seems very common in most storytellers.
> 
> I like the story. Sounds a fable aesop would think of, or something I would see on an old cartoon.
> 
> Short, and easy with a funny ending. Like it.



While this was certainly an original tale of mine, I think I might have taken some inspiration from stories from Panchatantra and Hitopadesha, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchatantra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitopadesha 

Actually, AMAR CHITRA KATHA (an Indian comics magazine) has published Hitopadesha tales as part of their series of tales on Indian culture, tradition and legends. I was an avid reader in my childhood.


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## Qetris (Oct 29, 2013)

I really liked this story.  I think it's cool you chose "Wily" as the name of the fox, because that definitely matches the fox's attitude.  This story reminds me of other fables where the fox ends up being too sly for his own good.  Overall, good job!


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## har134 (Oct 30, 2013)

Qetris said:


> I really liked this story.  I think it's cool you chose "Wily" as the name of the fox, because that definitely matches the fox's attitude.  This story reminds me of other fables where the fox ends up being too sly for his own good.  Overall, good job!



Thanks.


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## htins (Nov 11, 2013)

this was a great thing to read! it does read like a fable and i loved the end gave me a good chuckle and kept me guessing


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## har134 (Nov 12, 2013)

htins said:


> this was a great thing to read! it does read like a fable and i loved the end gave me a good chuckle and kept me guessing



Thanks.:-D


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## Sjonak (Nov 15, 2013)

A well-rounded, entertaining story.

Personally, I thought simply mentioning the cow's master added alot to it, as was probably planned.


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## har134 (Nov 16, 2013)

Sjonak said:


> A well-rounded, entertaining story.
> 
> Personally, I thought simply mentioning the cow's master added alot to it, as was probably planned.



Thanks.


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## escorial (Nov 16, 2013)

felt like a story that has passed from one generation to the other.


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## har134 (Nov 18, 2013)

escorial said:


> felt like a story that has passed from one generation to the other.



Thanks. Though I didn't copy this story anywhere, I got inspired from some animal tales in Hitopadesha and Panchatantra (fables from Hindu mythology)


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