In a forest two close friends, a tiger and a cat lived together. They were inseparable. They searched for food together and even slept together. The cat slept on the branches of the tree and the tiger under the same tree.
One day they found some trees full of ripe fruits. “Oh! How lucky we are! No one has found these trees,” remarked the cat delightedly.
While the cat was picking some fruits from the ground, a wolf came. The cat saw him in time. He shouted, “Help! Help!” and quickly scrambled up a tree.
The wolf followed the cat but was unable to climb the tree. He sat down under the tree greedily looking at the cat. The tiger, who was close by, heard the cat’s cry for help and came running. There he saw the wolf sitting.
He growled loudly. The wolf got frightened and ran away. Slowly the cat came down and said, “Thank you dear friend. You saved my life. The wolf would have eaten me today.”
The tiger realised that the cat could escape because he could climb trees. He requested, “Dear friend, please teach me how to climb trees. I will be able to save myself from the lion, if I can climb trees.”
This worried the cat. He thought, “If I teach him to climb, then I may not be safe if one day we become enemies.” He did not want to lose the tiger’s friendship. He thought, “Why not cheat the tiger.”
He told the tiger, “Alright, I will teach you to climb trees.” Overjoyed the tiger said, “Oh! Thank you. Let us go.” Off they went in search of a big tree.
The tiger hurried along for he was very eager to learn how to climb. The cat on the hand was reluctant and walked slowly.
When they came to a big tree, the cat said, “Watch very carefully how I climb the tree and follow me closely.” The cat started climbing the tree slowly and the tiger followed. Both climbed the tree. Soon they were very high up on the tree.
Suddenly, the cat jumped down to the ground. Once he was on the ground he called out to the tiger “to jump down.”
The afraid tiger shouted, “You have not taught me how to climb down.” The cat retorted, “Oh! Come on, just jump. Do not be afraid.” The tiger could not climb down so he jumped. Since his body was larger than that of the cat, he fell on the ground and broke his arms. The cat laughed at the tiger and became enemies.
