Once upon a time, in the village
of Corea, lived an evil tiger that ruled all the animals. This
evil tiger was unjust and feared by all as he took advantage
of all around him. Every time the evil tiger went to the village,
all the animals would shudder as he walked by. It was not uncommon
for him to take milk from a crying baby, spill the water bucket
of a thirsty farm worker or take the freshly washed laundry
from a mother’s backyard and have his gang of evil tigers
run it through the mud. All the animals were miserable under
the evil tiger’s rule but were helpless against him and
his gang.
In this village, lived a family of tigers,
a mother, her daughter and son. The father, a valiant warrior
from the days before the rule of the evil tiger, was lost in
battle. Now the son was liked by all in the village, as he was
a hard worker and did the work of two tigers as he was larger
than most tigers. Not once did the tiger complain and would
help the tired and sick, even after working a full day himself.
One day, as the tiger was walking home from
a long day’s work, he encountered the evil tiger and his
gang bullying an old badger. The tiger approached the evil tiger
and tried to reason with him to leave the old badger alone.
The evil tiger laughed and threw the old badger to his gang.
The tiger, worried as to what would happen to the old badger,
looked away and at that moment, the evil tiger raised his evil
paw and slashed the tiger’s face. The evil tiger and his
gang laughed and left the tiger alone in the forest. The tiger,
unable to see, blindly found his way home. As he entered the
house, his mother cried in surprise for what she saw was three
slashes across his right eye. Immediately she went into the
forest to find healing herbs that would bring back her son’s
sight. The next day, although her son could see, he was left
scarred for life with 3 slashes and a red eye.
Now the evil tiger was a vengeful tiger and
was angry at the tiger for interfering with his fun with the
old badger. The evil tiger knew that every day the mother and
daughter tiger were left alone as the tiger had to work in the
forest. So one day, as the tiger left for work, the evil tiger
and his gang went to his house and attacked the mother and daughter
tiger, leaving them to die.
When the tiger came home, tired and hungry,
he saw his house burnt to the ground and ran to his mother and
sister. His mother with her last breath told him that the evil
tiger was the one to blame. Heartbroken, the tiger left the
village and wandered in the forest without food and drink for
several days. Finally, unable to stand the heat of the sun,
he searched for a lake to quench his parched throat. As he bent
down to take a drink, he noticed his reflection in the water.
As he looked at himself, what he saw looking back at him was
the face of the saddest and loneliest and sorriest looking tiger.
He shook his head and looked down once again into the lake.
This time as he bent to take a drink, he noticed movement in
the tree behind him. He turned around and saw a giant snake
slithering up the trunk toward a bird’s nest. The tiger
heard the cries of the baby birds as the snake continued to
get closer. Just as the huge snake was about to reach the nest,
the mother and father bird coming back from their search for
food, swooped down and with all their might, pecked and fought
against the gigantic snake. The tiger stared in amazement as
he saw these tiny birds fight against all odds to keep their
family safe. The tiger, being the helpful tiger that he was,
ran to the tree and helped the birds defeat the snake.
The tiger amazed by what he had witnessed,
asked the father bird how he had the strength and will to fight
off the snake. The father bird, having had many experiences,
told the tiger that size and might did not matter, that if one
had the will and belief in himself, anything would be possible.
The tiger told his story to the bird and the bird agreed to
help the tiger. The bird showed the tiger special herbs to keep
his body and mind strong and counseled him. The tiger had decided
to make himself as strong as he could, physically and mentally,
so that he may return to the village and convince the other
animals to believe in themselves and stand up for their rights.
Finally, the tiger was ready to return
to the village. As he walked into the village, all the animals
were surprised to see him. The tiger approached the animals
and described what he saw in the forest, how the weak little
birds fought against the snake to keep their family safe. He
explained that they, as a group, could stand up for their rights
and did not have to live in fear from the evil tiger, if only
they believed in themselves. The animals were finally convinced
that they should and could stand up against the evil tiger and
made plans to confront him the next day. However, the evil tiger
had a spy at the meeting and found out the entire plan. The
evil tiger quickly ran to the meeting site and said that anyone
that listened to the tiger would die. The animals were intimidated
and scared. No one would listen to the tiger and would walk
away if he tried to talk to them. The tiger realized that he
alone had to face the evil tiger. As he approached the den,
the gang of tigers blocked his way and attacked him at once.
The tiger defended himself and fought fearlessly as the gang
attacked from all sides. All the animals gathered around as
they heard the fighting. As the tiger fought, the animals saw
that what the tiger had said in the meeting was true. If one
believed in themselves, anything could be possible. So the animals
ran to help the tiger fight against the gang. The tiger then
continued into the den to face the evil tiger. The two tigers
circled each other and fought ferociously. Finally, one tiger
emerged from the den. As he walked out, everyone was quiet and
finally as they realized the evil tiger’s reign was over,
everyone cheered. However, the tiger kept walking until he reached
the top of the mountain. As the tiger reached the top of the
mountain, he looked up into the sky as tears rolled down his
face, remembering his family, and he roared a mighty roar that
shook the earth. The roar was so mighty that all the animals
and even the people looked up to the mountain. As the people
looked up into the mountain, they saw a huge animal glowing
against the sunset. From then on, people spoke about the legend
of the “Red Tiger”.
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