The Brahmin, the Tiger and the Fox – A Fable

A contract is a legally enforceable promise.

A contract induced by fraud or misrepresentation is void and cannot be enforced by law. The person induced into the contract is entitled to rescind the contract. Once rescinded, the parties to the contract are restored to their original position before the contract was made. Rescission is a remedy to the person induced into the contract.

The principles of the law of contract were not what the Brahmin was thinking, taking a shortcut to his temple through the woods. He was taking the shortcut because he was delayed in his morning ablutions because of something he had eaten the previous night.

With a folded umbrella in his hand, his mind was on the path which he seldom took. At that time of the morning, after the dawn chirping of the birds had subsided, the woods were quiet. The shrill of the cicada silenced all other sounds.

Halfway into the woods, he heard a cry. Someone or something was calling for help. Cautious, the Brahmin continued walking, keeping to the path. He had heard stories of voices and sounds in the woods luring travellers into the depths of the wood, losing their way and not being found. Concentrating on the path he kept walking, but the cries became louder. Then, turning past some huge trees along the path, he saw where the cries were coming from.

Just as he saw the tiger in a cage, the tiger also saw him approaching. Seeing the Brahmin, the trapped tiger became quiet.

“Oh master, you are truly a saint, a messenger of God sent to release me. Please release me from my agony. I have been in this cage all night.”

The Brahmin, pretending he had not heard or seen anything, kept on walking, but the path took him closer to the cage with the tiger. “I am in a hurry. I am late for the morning prayers at the temple.”

“Oh master, oh saint from the heavens, it will not take a minute to raise the door. Imagine you will be answering a prayer even before the temple bells are rung.”

The Brahmin paused to take a closer look at the situation. There was a heavy wooden cage pegged to the ground. The door to the cage was fastened to a sturdy wooden bolt. The tiger in the cage could not reach the bolt. Nor could he raise the cage. He was running up and down the cage trying to force it to move with his weight but nothing he did was getting the results he wanted. The Brahmin was his only salvation.

“Release me oh my master and you will be freed from being reborn. Have you not heard that moksha comes to those who free a tiger?”

Standing a safe distance from the cage, the Brahmin said, “You are a tiger. You eat humans. If I released you, I would become your lunch. So, stay there, safe in the cage.”

No Master, no,” implored the tiger. “How can you say such a thing? There is a heart that beats in my chest and a soul that is no lower than yours. How can you ever think so lowly of me? Release me, please Master, please, and I will be your servant forever.”

The Brahmin hit the cage with his umbrella a couple of times and continued to walk away on the path. Stay there, tiger. I am safer here with you in the cage.”

“Wait Master, wait,” pleaded the tiger. “Don’t walk away. I have not told you about the gold hidden in a cave not far from here.”

Gold. The word fell on the Brahmin like a trap. He stopped and took a step back. “What gold?”

“Gold, master, gold, in such amounts that would make you faint.”

The Brahmin pondered for a moment and then said, “This is just another trick to get me to release you. I don’t believe you. I am not letting you free.”

“No Master, no, the gold has been there for generations and is waiting to be taken by the one who finds it.”

The Brahmin hesitated. What if the tiger was telling the truth? Maybe it was his fate that day to have his life threatened and then to be rewarded. Are there not stories like this in the Puranas, he asked himself? Then walking back to the cage, he asked the tiger the location of the cave.

“Not far, Master, not far. It is just a furlong from here hidden behind some bushes. You will never find it on your own, but I can lead you there.”

“If there is all that gold, why have you not taken it for yourself?”

“Take the gold, Master?” the tiger sneered, “and what would a tiger do with gold? We can't eat it. But for you, my Master, gold will fulfil your desires, it will give you all you need. A home, many homes even, land, clothes, food and comfort for you and your family and all your issues forever.”

Desire washed away the Brahmin’s disbelief, leaving only doubt. He had heard about hidden treasures in the jungle. This was an ancient land occupied over the ages by many kings and kingdoms. Treasures would have been hidden away. Caves are good places to hide treasures, and the tiger could have stumbled on such a cave.

“Swear to me that you are telling the truth.”

“I swear upon my soul and wish death to befall me if I lie.”

“And you will lead me to the gold when I let you free.”

“I swear.”

The Brahmin put his umbrella down and with some force lifted the wooden bolt on the door to the cage.

The tiger helped from inside. Once outside, the tiger stretched itself and bowed deeply before the Brahmin. Then before the Brahmin could say anything, the tiger grabbed the Brahmin by his neck. “Now for some lunch”, he said.

The Brahmin realised his mistake, his greed and his stupidity all at the same time.

Now it was the Brahmin’s screams that filled the forest. “You lied, you lied, you tricked me, let me go, let me go, help, someone help.”

Sleeping in his lair not far from where the tiger and Brahmin were having their differences, Kurukkan, the fox, wondered what the commotion was.

 Stretching himself to loosen his limbs, Kurukkan walked to where the commotion was. There he saw the tiger and the Brahmin. The tiger had the Brahmin pinned against the side of the cage.

“What’s going on here?”, he asked, “what’s all the noise?”, “don’t you know, this is the quiet time of the day?”

The Brahmin, barely able to speak, screamed, “This tiger, this lying ungrateful beast was trapped in the cage. Being a kind soul and feeling sorry for him, I released him. He promised not to harm me but now he wants to eat me. Oh, Kurukkan please tell him to let me go.”

The tiger laughed.  “Kind soul? Feeling sorry? This worthless human had no intention to save me. He was walking away from my plight until I promised to show him gold that was hidden in cave. Greed is what made him open the door to the trap. Greed. Now this greedy man will be my lunch.”

Kurukkan scratched his and looked from the tiger to the man he had pinned on the trap. “I can't understand a jot of what you both are saying. You, Brahmin, what are you doing in the woods at this time of the day, why are you not at the temple?”

“Oh Kurukkan, I was on my way to the temple when I stopped to help this evil beast. Having saved him, he wants to eat me now. Pity me, Kurukkan, please tell him to let me go.”

“Ha, ha, ha”, the tiger laughed, “what a nice story.”

“ So, where were you, my striped friend?” the fox asked the tiger.

“Inside the trap, you fool”, the tiger replied.

“I still cannot seem to get it. Please show me where you were exactly.”

“I cannot understand, why I bother to put up with fools.” Saying that the tiger walked into the empty cage. “See, you fool, this was where I was.”

“And why could you not go out of the cage, the cage door is open.”

“Oh, you fool, it was closed, like this.” Saying that the tiger, still inside the cage, pulled the door shut.

“Ah … Ah I see it now. Now I understand.” Kurukkan quickly walked to the cage and put the bolt in place. “It was bolted so was it not?”

The tiger realised he was tricked by the fox, but he realised it too late. He was back in the cage, trapped. He tried to open the cage, but the door was bolted fast. He growled so deeply that the jungle shook. He kept banging his head on the cage for his folly.

Kurukkan turned to the Brahmin who was still shaking and not realised what had happened. “Get going, Brahmin. Don’t let greed waylay you in future.”