The Tiger Who Would Be King

The Tiger Who Would Be King

One morning the tiger woke up in
the jungle and told his mate that he was
king of beasts.
"Leo, the lion, is king of beasts,"
she said.
"We need a change," said the tiger.
"The creatures are crying for a change."
The tigress listened but she could
hear no crying, except that of her cubs.
"I'll be king of beasts by the time
the moon rises," said the tiger. "It will
be a yellow moon with black stripes,
in my honour."
"Oh sure," said the tigress as she
went to look after her young, one of
whom, a male, very like his father, had
got an imaginary thorn in his paw.
The tiger prowled through the
jungle till he came to the lion's den.
"Come out," he roared," and greet the
king of beasts! The king is dead, long
live the king!"
Inside the den, the lioness woke
her mate. "The king is here to see you,"
she said.
"What king?" he inquired, sleepily.
"The king of beasts," she said.
"I am the king of beasts," roared Leo
and he charged out of the den to defend
his crown against the pretender.
It was a terrible fight and it lasted
until the setting of the sun. All the
animals of the jungle joined in, some
taking the side of the tiger and others
the side of the lion. Every creature from
the aardvark to the zebra took part in
the struggle to overthrow the lion or to
repulse the tiger, and some did not knot
know which they were fighting for, and
some fought for both, and some fought
whoever was nearest and some fought
for the sake of fighting.
"What are we fighting for?" someone
asked the aardvark.
"The old order," said the aardvark.
"What are we dying for?" someone
asked the zebra.
"The new order," said the zebra.
When the moon rose, fevered and
gibbous, it shone upon a jungle in
which nothing stirred except a macaw
and a cockatoo, screaming in horror.
All the beasts were dead except the
tiger, and his days were numbered
and his time was ticking away. He
was monarch of all he surveyed, but it
didn't seem to mean anything.
Taken from Readings to Remember, 2004