The Forest and the Tiger

In the beginning Forest and Tiger were the best of friends. They would talk of this and that, but mainly they just liked being together, watching the coming and going of the seasons, tracking the roll of sun and moon as they slipped across the sky, high above the branches of the trees. With the coming of humans, the two friends came to appreciate each other even more. You see, people were reluctant to come and cut down the trees because they feared being eaten by the Tiger; likewise, when humans came with spears determined to hunt down Tiger, it was the shadows of the Forest that allowed him to stay free from harm.

But as sometimes happens even with good friends, the day came when these two began taking each other for granted. That, in time, led to feelings of resentment, even contempt. "You do little here with your presence but foul my beautiful floor," Forest said to Tiger one day. Tiger, in turn, scoffed at the Forest for its dark and gloomy thickets, saying how troublesome such a place was, how difficult it was to warm his back in the fingers of sun. One day Tiger simply walked away, out into the world of open hills and valleys.

It wasn't long, of course, before humans discovered that the Forest was no longer guarded. They rushed in and cut down trees like there was no tomorrow, until the once beautiful Forest was nothing but a barren, lifeless place. Sadly, the Tiger fared no better. Because he was unable to hide in those thickets, the men with spears found him easily, killing him and his kind by the hundreds. And thus what had at first seemed like nothing more than an unfortunate parting of ways between friends was in fact the beginning of the end, the undoing of both the Forest and the Tiger.

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