The Lady or the Tiger(Jonathan) The semi-barbaric King of an ancient land utilized an unusual form of administering justice for offenders in his kingdom. The offender would be placed in an arena where his only way out would be to go through one of two doors. Behind one door was a beautiful woman hand-picked by the king and behind the other was a fierce tiger. The offender was then asked to pick one of the doors, without knowing what was behind it. If he picked the door with the woman behind it, then he was declared innocent but was also required to marry the woman, regardless of previous marital status. If he picked the door with the tiger behind it, though, then he would be deemed guilty and the tiger would rip him to pieces.

One day the king found that his daughter, the princess, had taken a lover far beneath her station. The king could not allow this and so he threw the offender in prison and set a date for his trial in the arena. On the day of his trial the suitor looked to the princess for some indication of which door to pick. The princess, did, in fact, know which door concealed the woman and which one the tiger, but was faced with a conundrum. If she indicated the door with the tiger, then the man she loved would be killed on the spot; however, if she indicated the door with the lady, her lover would be forced to marry another woman and even though he would be alive she would never be with him again. Finally she does indicate a door, which the suitor then opens.......

He turned, and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it.

Out of the door a flamboyantly, intimidating and majestic tiger casually walked out. An immediate stab of betrayal hit him. He would rather be skinned alive then go through such a deception! He glanced up at the princess with pleading eyes; she smiled her slick insidious smile. The tiger laid its big bright yellow eyes on him, they looked somewhat savvy, cool, calm and collected, but also hungry. The tiger stalked over to him slowly; it’s muscles bulged and slowly contracted. He knew that if you looked at a cat in its eyes, it is a sign of aggression and cats usually only attack when they have the element of surprise, or when their victim is not looking. The tiger did not roar, but growled, hissed and lifted up its snout exposing its gums and its deadly teeth. He knew that big cats could smell fear. The crowd started roaring sickeningly with anticipation and excitement. Sweat drenched his tense body; he made a sudden move as if spurring the animal on, a reckless decision. The tiger bent down and got ready to pounce; the muscles in its shoulders coiled and flexed. He felt sick and bile had started rising to his throat. Unexpectedly, the tiger rolled over, squinted its eyes, started purring and pushed its paws up like a dog. He squatted down and started rubbing the tigers belly; the crowd had let out a gasp of bewilderment. The tiger wasn’t hungry! A wave of relief had washed over the princess, for this was part of her plan. The day before, she had bribed the tiger tamer into feeding it 40 kg of meat. She knew that tigers did not eat for several days after a meal. It was a risky plan, but it worked! She would not let another woman claim her lover, nor would she let a tiger devour him. He looked up at the princess with a pure expression of admiration. He knew that this was part of her plan and she blew him a kiss. The crowed cheered, but the king however was not so content. He got up, his face red hot like a pepper. The king was about to issue the command to have the princess’ lover publicly hanged, he did not like having his entertainment foiled, but the princess told him this was not part of the deal and asked to marry him instead of the lady behind the door. The princess always got her way and the king hated to deny his daughters avidities and so the wedding commenced!

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