“On what must I give judgment?” barked the little Jackal.
Again the Brahmin told his story and asked, “Do you think it just, or fair that the Tiger should eat me up after I set him free from that cruel cage?”
“Cage, cage, cage?” asked the little Jackal in a perplexed tone. “I don’t quite understand. What sort of cage was it?”
“Why, a big iron cage down in the village,” answered the Brahmin. “The men had caught the Tiger to punish him for his wickedness. When I came down the road he begged for a drink of water and promised he would not eat me, if I set him free. But when I opened the cage-door, he sprang upon me to kill me. Do you call that fair, or just?”
“Dear me, dear me!” said the little Jackal. “How can I decide who is right or wrong until I see the cage and the exact position you were in when the quarrel began? Show me the place and I will try to judge.”
So the Brahmin and the Tiger and the little Jackal went back to the place where the empty cage stood.
“Oh, is that the cage?” asked the Jackal.
“Well, Brahmin, show me exactly where you stood,” said the Jackal.
“Here,” said the Brahmin. “I stood here in the road looking in the cage at the cruel Tiger.”
“Where were you, Tiger?” asked the Little Jackal.
“Why, I stood in the cage, so!” answered the Tiger jumping into the cage, “and my head was leaning against the iron bars, so!”
“Very good, very good!” said the little Jackal. “But I cannot give judgment until I understand a little more. Why did you not come out by yourself, Tiger? Was the cage-door open, or shut?”
“Why, the cage-door was shut and bolted!” answered the Brahmin.
“Then shut and bolt it,” said the Jackal, “for I must see how all this happened.”
The Brahmin shut and bolted the cage-door and, turning to the Jackal, he said, “Now give us your judgment, Brother Jackal.”
“Ha-ha-ha!” barked the little Jackal, joyously. “Leave it locked! Leave it locked, Brother Brahmin! Oh, you wicked and ungrateful Tiger! After the good Brahmin was kind enough to open the cage-door, was it fair, or just, for you to spring upon him to kill him? You may stay in that cage all the rest of your life. Goodbye, Brother Brahmin, goodbye,” said the little Jackal. “My way leads this way and your way leads that. Goodbye!”