Panchatantra Brahmin Tiger

tale:panchatantra_brahmin_tiger

A kindly Brahmin frees a tiger begging release from its cage; once out, the ungrateful beast means to eat him. They agree to ask three witnesses — a tree, a buffalo, a road — who all say humans repay good with ill. At last a jackal feigns confusion and asks the tiger to show how it was caged; the tiger climbs back in to demonstrate, and the jackal latches the door. Moral: cleverness must rescue kindness from the jaws of ingratitude. — Panchatantra (attrib. Vishnu Sharma)