Folk Tales from Tibet (1906)/The Story of Good Faith

 

STORY No. III.

THE STORY OF GOOD FAITH.

The Tiger soon got tired of sitting in the house and tried to force his way out; but the house was too strongly built for him to be able to make any impression upon the walls, so he gave it up in despair and soon began to suffer severely from hunger and thirst. Two or three days passed away and the Tiger was in a sorry state, when, as he was peering through a chink in the logs he saw a little Musk Deer, which had come down to drink at the stream which was close by. When the Tiger saw the Deer he called out to her:

"Oh, Sister Deer, will you please come and open the door of this house. I am shut up inside, and as I have nothing to eat and drink I am afraid of starving to death."

The Deer was a good deal frightened when she heard the Tiger's voice, but when she understood how matters were she was reassured, and replied:

"Oh, Uncle Tiger, I am very sorry to hear of your misfortune. But I am afraid if I open the door and let you out you will kill and eat me."

"No, no, I won't," replied the Tiger, "you can rely upon me. I promise you faithfully that if you will release me I will let you go free."

Accordingly, the Deer came up to the house and unbolted the door from the outside, and the Tiger sprang out joyfully. As soon as he got outside he seized upon the Deer and said:

"I am very sorry for you, Sister Deer, but the fact is I am so famished that really I have no alternative but to eat you immediately."

"This is really too bad," replied the Deer; "after promising faithfully that you would not eat me, and after the benefit which I have conferred upon you, you should certainly keep faith with me."

"Faith!" said the Tiger. "What is faith? I don't believe there is any such thing as good faith."

"Is there not?" answered the Deer. "Well now, let us make a bargain. We will ask the first three living things we meet whether or no there is such a thing as good faith. If they say there is not, then you are welcome to kill and eat me; but if they say there is such a thing, then you shall let me go free."

"Very good," said the Tiger, "I agree to that; that is a bargain."

So the two set off together side by side, and after proceeding a short distance down the road they came upon a large Tree growing by the roadside.

"Good-morning, Brother Tree," said the Musk Deer, "we want to refer a question to you for your decision."

The Tree waved its branches in the air and replied in a gentle voice:

"What is your question, Sister Deer? I am ready to do my best to help you."

"The case is this," replied the Musk Deer, "a short while ago I found this Tiger shut up in a Woodcutter's hut in the forest, unable to get out. He called out to me asking me to open the door of the hut, promising me, if I did so, that he would let me go free. So I opened the door and let him out. No sooner was he released than he seized upon me and threatened to kill and eat me; and when I reproached him of breaking his faith, he said he did not believe that there was such a thing as good faith in the world. So we made a bargain that we would ask the first three living things we met whether or no there is such a thing as good faith in this world. If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to kill and eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, then I am to go free. Will you please give us an opinion as to whether such a thing as good faith exists or not."

On hearing this story the great Tree moved its branches slowly in the breeze and replied as follows:

"I am much interested in your story, Sister Deer, and would gladly help you if I could; but I am bound to answer you honestly in accordance with my own experience of life. Now consider my own case. I grow here by the roadside and spread my branches over the dusty highway ready to give shelter to man and beast in their shade. Travellers passing constantly up and down the road avail themselves of this cool retreat, and they come themselves and they bring their poor beasts of burden to rest in my shadow. And then what happens? Are they grateful to me for the comfort which I afford them? Does my example inspire them with any consideration for others? Far from it. When they have rested and refreshed themselves enough, they proceed on their way, and not only do they not thank me for my hospitality, but they break off my tender branches and use them as whips, further to goad and distress their weary animals. Can such conduct as that be called good faith? No, I am bound to say that my experience of life leads me to believe that there is no such thing as good faith in this world."

The poor Musk Deer was much cast down on hearing these words, and she and the Tiger moved on together till, a little farther along the road, they caught sight of a Cow Buffalo and her Calf grazing quietly in a field of succulent grass. They noticed that the old Cow contented herself with the driest and smallest patches of grass, whilst showing her Calf where to find the richest and most luxuriant pasture, and that she willingly deprived herself of any comfort in order to afford pleasure to the youngster. The Tiger and the Deer approached the old Cow, and the Deer, addressing her, said:

"Good-morning, Aunt Buffalo! This Tiger and I have a small matter which we wish to refer to you for an opinion."

The Buffalo gazed at them with her big eyes, and after ruminating for a while she replied slowly:

"Say on, Sister Deer, I am ready to give you my opinion for what it is worth."

"Well," said the Deer, "this Tiger was shut up in a hut in the forest, and being unable to open the door, he was in danger of starving to death. I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him out, promising that if I did so he would spare my life. So I opened the door and released him. But no sooner was he free than he seized upon me and said that he would kill and eat me; and when I reproached him with his bad faith, he replied that he did not believe that such a thing as good faith existed. So we made a bargain that we would ask the first three living things we met whether or no they believed that there is such a thing as good faith. If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, I am to go free. Now, will you please give us your opinion on the matter."

On hearing this statement the old Buffalo continued to chew the cud for some minutes, and then replied gravely:

"I would gladly help you in the matter, Sister Deer, if I could; but I must regard it from the point of view of my own experience in life. I am considering the case of myself and my Calf. While the Calf is young and tender, I do all in my power to nourish and care for it. I first give it my milk, and later on, as you see, I encourage it to browse upon the best of the herbage, whilst I gladly stint myself in order that it may have plenty of the best of everything. But what happens later on, when the Calf grows strong and lusty? Does it remember its old mother with gratitude, and fend for her in her old age? Far from it. As soon as it is big enough it will push me away from the places where I am grazing and take the best for itself, and will drive me away altogether from the pastures if it can. Can that be called keeping faith with its mother? No; my experience makes me believe that there is no such thing as good faith in this world."

When the Musk Deer heard this she was much downhearted, and fully expected to be killed and eaten without further delay; but she begged the Tiger to give her one more chance, saying that she was fully prepared to abide by the opinion of the third person whom they met.

The Tiger consented to this, and after going on a little farther together they met a Hare, hopping quietly down the road towards them.

"Good-morning, Brother Hare," called out the Musk Deer; "could you spare us a few moments to give us an opinion upon a point of difference which has arisen between this Tiger and myself?"

"Certainly," replied the Hare, stopping short in the roadway. "I shall be delighted to do the best I can for you."

"Well," replied the Musk Deer, "the facts are as follows: I was drinking just now at a stream in the forest when I noticed this Tiger shut up in a Woodcutter's hut. The door was bolted outside, and he was unable to come out, and was in danger of starving to death, so he called out to me, asking me to release him, promising me, if I did so, that he would spare my life. I accordingly opened the door; but no sooner did the Tiger come out, than he seized upon me, saying that he was so hungry that he had really no alternative but to devour me on the spot. And when I reproached him for his bad faith, he replied that he did not know what good faith was, and, in fact, did not believe that such a thing existed. So we made a bargain that we would ask the first three living creatures we met whether or no there is such a thing as good faith in this world. If they say there is, then I am to go free; but if they say there is not, then the Tiger is at liberty to kill and eat me. We have already consulted two persons in the matter, and they are both of opinion that there is no such thing as good faith. You are the third and last, and on your decision depends my life."

"Dear me," replied the Hare, "this is a very strange story, and before giving an opinion on so momentous a matter it is necessary that I should understand exactly how it all happened. Let me see. You say that you were shut up in the Woodcutter's hut."

"No, no," broke in the Tiger; "it was I who was shut up in the Woodcutter's hut."

"Oh! I see," said the Hare; "then the Musk Deer must have shut you in?"

"Oh! no," interrupted the Musk Deer. "You don't seem to understand at all; that was not how it happened."

"Well," said the Hare, "it is such a complicated story that it is difficult to follow it exactly. So before giving a decision I propose that we all adjourn to the scene of action, and there you can explain to me precisely what occurred."

The Tiger and the Musk Deer agreed to this, and the three set off together until they arrived at the Woodcutter's hut in the forest.

"Now," said the Hare, "will you please explain to me exactly what happened. Where, for instance, were you, Sister Deer, at the time the Tiger spoke to you?"

"I was down here drinking at the stream, so," replied the Deer, going off to the place in question.

"And where were you, Uncle Tiger?" said the Hare.

"Well, I was inside the hut, thus," replied the Tiger, going inside the house.

"And the door, I presume, must have been shut, so?" said the Hare. And so saying he shut the door and bolted it; and he and the Deer went on their way safely, leaving the Tiger shut up inside, where he shortly after starved to death.