Kapitel 1: the Potter and the tiger
It was dark. Thick black clouds covered the evening sky. The thunder roared and the strong wind shook the branches and leaves of the tree in the forest. Pit.....pat....pit, drops of rain fell.Then the lightning flashed and split the black sky with its blinding light. Soon it
was raining heavily.
An old tiger ran through the rain looking for shelter. He was wet and cold and his
cave was far away. While hurrying to his shelter he saw an old hut. With a sigh of relief the
tiger crawled under the thatched roof and lay down by the door. Except for the sound of the
rain all was quiet. Before he could nod off, however, he heard something heavy being dragged
inside the hut. This was followed by the voice of a woman.
'Oh, how terrible this leak is!' she complained. 'How terrible! I would rather meet a tiger in the forest than have this leak in my house!'
'A leak?' the tiger thought. 'What is a leak? It must be very dangerous and strong or
the woman would not be more frightened of the leak than of me. Am I not rightly called the
king of the forest? Aren't they all afraid of me? I wonder what a leak looks like . . . ?
Soon afterwards the tired tiger fell asleep. He was suddenly awakened by an angry
voice shouting in his ear. He felt heavy blows fall upon his head and shoulders.
'You horrible beast!' a voice screamed angrily. 'How dare you run away? How dare
you make me walk about in the middle of the night trying to find you! Be careful, one of
these days I'll kill you! Now, go home!'
The old tiger shivered. 'This must be the leak who has come out of the hut. I'd better
do as he says or he will kill me.'
So the tiger allowed himself to be bound around the neck with a thick rope. The mysterious creature then climbed onto the tiger's back and pulled at the rope. 'Come on,head for home!' shouted the voice. The tiger felt a sharp kick on his side. The tiger was
terrified and he ran through the dark forest. The creature pulled hard on the rope to tell him
which way to go. At the same time it scolded, cursed and kicked the poor tiger. Soon they
stopped in front of a small hut on the edge of the thick forest. The creature climbed down
from the tiger's back and bound him with an iron chain to a nearby tree. Then he went inside
the hut. The tiger could not free himself from the chain; so he had to spend a miserable
night under the tree. Who was this creature who was able to capture such a large and dangerous tiger? Let's find out.
On the afternoon of that day, a potter had arrived home after a hard day's work. He
was tired and thirsty. He had asked his wife for some palm-wine. The more he drank, the
better he felt. When he had drunk all the wine he no longer felt tired. When the storm began
the potter suddenly remembered that he had left his donkey tied under a tree. He rushed out
of his hut to take the animal into the stable. You can imagine his anger when he discovered
that the donkey was not there anymore -- the only thing left was its chain!
'My stupid donkey must have run off into the forest,' he grumbled. 'When I catch him I'll give him a good beating!'
The potter walked through the wet forest. When it became dark he often stumbled
over roots and fallen branches. With each step the potter felt angrier and angrier with his
donkey.
'When I catch him, I'll tie him up under the tree all night,' he muttered to himself.
Hours later, the potter reached the old woman's hut. There he saw an animal sleeping in front of the door.
'There he is!' he shouted. 'There he is, the stupid animal!'
The drunken potter did not notice the difference between the donkey and a tiger. He
kicked and beat the sleeping tiger. He then jumped onto the frightened animal's back, rode it
home, and then tied it up with the iron chain.
Next morning the villagers who passed the potter's house looked in amazement at
the tiger tied to the tree. Soon the news spread throughout the village that the potter had
caught a tiger and tied it to a tree in his yard. All the villagers praised his courage. They also
thanked him because the tiger had eaten many of their goats and buffaloes. They had tried to
catch him for many years but had failed. Of course, the potter said that he had done nothing
of the sort. He said that he had only brought his donkey home. He did not understand how a
donkey could change into a tiger! When he saw the tiger, he fainted.
Nobody, however, believed the potter's story. The villagers even praised him for beingmodest. Soon the potter became famous. Everybody who met him called him the brave
potter. The simple potter himself never understood why.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein