The Rabbit's Judgment

Abstract

A tiger has fallen into a pit and cannot get out. His cries attract a man. Though he feels sorry for the tiger, the man fears getting hurt by the tiger after he gets him out. The tiger assures him that he will not hurt him. The man uses a log to let the tiger get out. Then the tiger starts circling him with his mouth watering. The circling illustration may be the best: it puts the lion all the way around the man. They ask first the pine tree about gratitude, and then the ox. Both respond that men know no gratitude. There is another fine illustration here showing the ox's face as he answers that the tiger should eat the man up. A rabbit hops by and the desperate man pleads with the tiger to ask the rabbit. The rabbit says he needs to see the pit and then to see their original positions. Once the tiger is back in the pit, the rabbit declares that the problem started when the man helped the tiger out of the pit. If the man had not shown kindness, there would be no problem. So the man should go on, and the tiger should stay in the pit. One sees this story with different characters, but I am not sure I have ever seen the particular logic of this solution. That is, the rabbit brings the characters back to a supposed pre-problematic stage, and so eliminates the problem.