SUPHEA RABBIT AND THE TIGER


After he helped ease the three men of their puzzled mind, Suphea Rabbit was very content with himself. He breathed in the morning fresh air and hopped from place to place aimlessly, neglecting to look where he was heading.

Suddenly he found himself at the bottom of a deep well. It was a man-made well that was dug a long time ago for water but later was abandoned and became covered with tiny shrubs.

Rabbit became panicked because the well was too deep for him to hop out. He thought and thought. He needed someone to throw him out of the well, so he fixed his eyes on the grassy rim of the well watching for anyone who might pass by. About an hour later, he spotted a tiger walking slowly by the well.

Rabbit screamed from the bottom of his lungs: "Brother Tiger, where are you heading? Are you not scared?"

Tiger asked: "Why should I be scared?"

Rabbit replied: "Look up to the sky, don't you see the clouds are getting bigger and lower?"

Tiger noted: "Yes, they are massive and right above our heads."

Rabbit said: "That is because the sky will fall down any minute and crush us to death. That is why I choose to hide in the well."

Tiger never heard of a falling sky but he chose to believe Rabbit because the latter was renown for being smart and vigilant although sometimes mischievous.

Tiger shouted: "I want to be safe too. Can I hide with you?"

Rabbit got his wish fulfilled. He had been waiting for this moment. He knew that Tiger would believe his scheme of a falling sky and jump into the well with him. Now, he was determined to get Tiger upset. He repeatedly poked Tiger in the stomach, hips and back with his fingers.

Tiger protested: "Stop teasing me. I cannot take it anymore."

Rabbit pretended not to hear the warning. He kept poking Tiger, especially in his stomach to make him even more annoyed.

Tiger asked: "Do you want to die? If you keep doing this to me, I will throw you up to be crushed by the falling sky."

Just as he expected, Tiger was going to throw him out of the well if he went on with the poking. So finally Tiger had enough and could not bear that mischievous Rabbit's poking any longer. He needed to be away from the annoying creature. With all his might, Tiger grabbed Rabbit's whole body and threw him out of the well.

Once out of danger, Rabbit said: "Thank you, Brother Tiger. Now you have to find your own way out."

Tiger then realized he had been tricked by Suphea Rabbit.