In a faraway jungle, there was a tiger who didn’t know who he was. He planned to declare himself king of the jungle, and met with all the animals in the world to prove to himself that he was right. When all the animals gathered, he stood up on a great big rock and asked all of his subjects, “Who else has a better life than I? I am strong, wise and certainly living the most luxurious life. I don’t even have to work very hard to eat.” Being cocky, the tiger went around looking for acceptance and affirmation that others believed in him. If he saw an animal that had a better life than his, he would hunt it down and kill it. All over the animal kingdom the actions of the tiger brought great unrest. One day, the tiger came upon a group of horses and questioned, “Who do you know that has a better life than I? I am the King. I am big and strong. I can easily get food, unlike many of you who have to run around looking for it.” The horses felt intimidated but replied, “Yes, sir. You’re right, but I heard there is an animal that may have a better life than you.” The tiger, furious at the news, demanded ,“Who?” The horses were afraid to name the animal, so they told
the tiger to seek out the elephant, because he has the best memory, “he will surely remember,” the horses said.
The tiger ran through his kingdom until he came upon a herd of elephants. The tiger demanded that the elephants tell him the animal that had a better life than he did. The elephant thought for a long while but again, not wanting to upset the tiger and fearing for his life, he told the tiger to see the monkey among the trees in the jungle, because the monkey had traveled far and wide and knew a lot more.
So the tiger set out on a quest. A few days into his journey deep in the jungle, he spotted a group of monkeys in the trees. He asked the monkey, “Who do you know that has a better life than I do? I am the king of the jungle. I hunt my food. I am strong. I am wise. I can do anything I want.” The monkey thought for a while then said, “No. I have seen the animal that has a far better life than you.” The tiger grew very upset. He wanted to know who it was and wanted to see this animal for himself. The monkey replied that the pig had the best life. The tiger immediately asked the location of the pig, for he wanted to witness this unnatural phenomenon.
After getting directions from the monkey, the tiger set out on a long journey to a village. Upon entering the village, the tiger saw a pig sleeping in his stall. The tiger woke the pig and told the pig all that he had learned, whereupon the pig, smiling cheerfully, answered that he was correct. The tiger was furious. How could a small and fat pig have a better life than the king of the jungle? He challenged the pig to show him. The pig agreed to the tiger’s request. He asked the tiger to hide behind a bush and witness a demonstration.
With the tiger in position, the pig started screaming
“Oink! Oink! Oink!” and jumping up and down. A man
rushed out of the house with food in his hands and fed the pig. The pig gulped it down and smirked at the tiger, showing him the attention that he had commanded. When the pig finished his food, again he screamed “Oink! Oink! Oink!” The man rushed out of his house again with a bucket of water for the pig to drink. Then the man washed and bathed the pig. The tiger, hiding in the bush, was full of jealousy and anger over what he had just witnessed. The pig clearly didn’t do anything. He just waited around in his stall and a slave tended to his every need.
The tiger flew into a rage, demanding that the pig leave his stall or face death. Fearing for his life, the pig ran off, leaving the tiger in his stall. Now the tiger was full of joy, believing that, at last, he could command all of creation. So he did what the pig had done and screamed “Oink! Oink! Oink!”
Unfortunately for the tiger, it sounded more like a roar. The farmer rushed to investigate, found a tiger in his pig stall and immediately shot it. The animal kingdom returned to normal without the tiger around asking to be king.
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