Tigers:
1)INDIAN STORIES:
The Story of Goddess Durga
The tiger is vahana(vehicle) of goddess DURGA. Do you know that in Nepal there is no burning of Ravana on Dusshera because it is believed that Goddess Durga, riding a tiger, killed Mahishasura ( a buffalo-headed demon) on the same day. Mahishasura it is said , was so powerful that none of the gods were able to defeat him. Therefore they met together to form Durga with 18 hands, many weapons, riding a tiger. It thus shows that tiger has always been a very important symbol of power & might
2)The story of Lord Ayyappan:
Ayyappan was born as a result of alliance between Siva & Vishnu when Vishnu appearded in Mohini Rupa after churning of milky ocean. He is the third son of Siva after Ganesha and Kartikeya. Ayyappan, was found by a childless king & queen on the bank of a river. They brought him home as their own child. But when the queen had a child of her own she became jealous of Ayyappan. The queen pretended that she was very ill & she would be cured by drinking tiger's milk. Ayyappan , who was 12 years old volunteered & went to the forest. He returned riding a tiger followed by all tigers of the forest. The king begged for forgiveness & asked where did Ayyapan want his temple to be built?
Ayyapan fired an arrow & it fell at a place Sabari. Hence, the Sabarimalai temple was built. Both the stories thus show how important the tiger has been to our mythology. The tiger has been an important part of Chinese, Korean, Sumerian , Japanese & European mythologies. It is a pity that the tiger is endangered because of us humans killing it discriminately. Killing a tiger with a sword or a spear has always been considered very courageous.
3)KOREAN STORIES
The Legend of Dan-gun
In the ancient times, Hwan-In ruled the heaven. He loved his son, Hwan- Ung who was a clever, compassionate & constructive man. One day, Hwan-Ung pleaded with his father to let him go to earth & rule Korea. Hwan -In said yes and sent him along with Pung-Beg (the Earl of Wind), U-Sa (the Chancellor of Rain), and Un-Sa (The Chancellor of Clouds). The ministers were able to control rain, wind, clouds, and all natural elements. Meanwhile a bear and a tiger lived on the earth in a cave near a sandalwood tree & wanted to become human. Hwan-ung told them that to become humans they will have to live in a dark cave for 100 days & eat only garlic and mugwort. The bear lived in the cave, but the tiger was extremely restless and ran away. The bear became a beautiful woman, married Hwan-Ung was made the Queen. Soon she gave birth to a prince, Dan-gun, or the Sandalwood King. Dan-gun reigned as the first human king of the North Korea. Koreans believe that the tiger still roams the mountains. Though the tiger did not become a human, even today people's affection for the tiger is special. The tiger is seen as brave and sacred.
T4)he Mountain Spirit
In ancient times the tiger was a messenger of the mountain spirit, San Shin.
5)The Matchmakng Mountain Spirit
Once upon a time there lived a rich man Kim, who had a beautiful daughter named Ok-bun. Ok-bun became friend with a poor boy P'al-bong. Both of them were very close friends. As they got older, Ok-bun's father realized that they loved each other & wanted to get married. Kim decided to marry his daughter to Tol-swae, who was also a nobleman. Kim wanted to get her married quickly & arranged for the engagement and set an early wedding date. Both Ok-bun & P'al-bong felt very sad. On the wedding day when the bridegroom entered the bridal chamber, where Ok-bun was waiting for him, a tiger took away Ok-bun.
The tiger dropped Ok-bun at P'al-bong's door. In the meantime, Tol-swae searched to look for Ok-bun. He thought she had surely been killed by the tiger. When everybody found Ok-bun then everyone nodded and said that it was the mountain spirit, San Shin, at his matchmaking again, and that no human should interfere. So a marriage between the two childhood sweethearts was arranged and they lived happily every after.
References
The Tiger Call, Published in March, 1996, WWF-IndiaFolk Tales from Korea, 3rd edition, by Zong In-Sob, 1982, Hollym International Corp: New Jersey Tiger, Burning Bright, Kathleen J. Crane Foundation, 1992, Hollym International Corp: New Jersey
Books to read:
At the Zoo. National Geographic Society, 1992.
Bowden, Joan. A World Without Tigers. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993. Hewett, Joan. Tiger, Tiger, Growing Up. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993. Who's Who at the Zoo? DK Publishing, Inc., 1994.
CATS:
1)Cat Tales
Teaching My Cat Russian
I should be working. Instead, I'm trying to teach my cat Russian. I want him to bring me his brush.
"Fremont, где— щетка?"
He should fetch his brush and say, "Вот, пожалуйста, щетка."
Or he could lead me to his brush and say, "Она здесь."
Of course, being polite, I would say, "Спасебо!" and he would reply, "Пожалуйста."
He's a Red tabby; he should know Russian, dammit. I need someone to practice Russian with. But he just lies there and looks at me like I'm nuts or something.
2)What Cats Don't Tell Us
The cats woke me up at 5:00 am Sunday morning, with a fight that started down the hall and quickly moved under my bed. Most of the time Fremont is rather laid back, but every once in a while he has to do these things. Sylvia never learned to defend herself, as Mickey always used to come between her and Fremont, and he actually stopped many fights. But no more... Anyway, when attacked, Sylvia finds something to hide under, and screams bloody murder. A fine way to wake up! So I had to get up, chase them out from under the bed, and corral Fremont long enough for Sylvia to escape.
When I went back to sleep, I had a dream. Someone told me that the reason Fremont attacked Sylvia was because he didn't like the way she wrote her papers. So I got on the computer and found her papers. Sure enough, there were problems with the way she wrote them! I fixed them, so Fremont wouldn't need to fight with her any more.
There are two things here that concern me.
First, I'm obviously working way too much.
Second..... Whatever it is that cats think about, but will never share with us...... I had it, right in front of me! On my computer! And I have no idea what it said!
3)Cat and Mouse in Partnership
Germany
A cat and a mouse wanted to live together and keep house as a partnership. They prepared for winter by buying a pot of fat, and because they had no safer spot for it, they placed it under the alter in the church until such time that they would need it. However, one day the cat took a longing for it, and approached the mouse. "Listen, little mouse, my cousin has invited me to serve as godfather. She has given birth to a brown and white spotted little son, and I am supposed to carry him to his baptism. Is it all right for me to leave you home alone with the housework today?"
"Go ahead," said the mouse, "and if they serve you something good, just think of me. I would certainly welcome a drop of good red christening wine." But the cat went straight to the church and ate the top off the fat and then went strolling about the town and did not return home until evening.
"You must have had a good time," said the mouse. "What name did they give the child?"
"Top-Off," answered the cat.
"Top-Off? That's a strange name, one that I've not yet heard."
Soon afterward the cat took another longing, went to the mouse, and said, "I've been asked to serve as godfather once again. The child has a white ring around its body. I can't say no. You'll have to do me a favor and take care of the house by yourself today."
The mouse agreed, and the cat went and ate up half the fat. When she returned home, the mouse asked, "What name did this godchild receive?"
"Half-Gone."
"Half-Gone? What are you telling me? I've never heard that name. It certainly isn't in the almanac."
Now the cat could not take his mind off the pot of fat. "I've been invited to serve as godfather for a third time," he said. "The child is black and has white paws, but not another white hair on his entire body. That only happens once in a few years. You will let me go, won't you?"
"Top-Off, Half-Gone," said the mouse. "Those names are so curious that it makes me a bit suspicious, but go ahead."
The mouse took care of the house and cleaned up everything, while the cat finished off the pot of fat. Round and full, she did not return until nighttime.
"What is the third child's name?"
"All-Gone."
"All-Gone! That is a worrisome name!" said the mouse. "All-Gone. Just what does this mean? I've never seen that name in print," and she shook her head and went to bed.
No one invited the cat to serve as godfather a fourth time. Winter soon came, and when they could no longer find anything to eat outside, the mouse said to the cat, "Let's get the provisions that we've hid in the church under the altar." They went there, but the pot was empty.
"Now I see!" said the mouse. "You came here when you said you were invited to be a godfather. First came Top-Off, then it was Half-Gone, and then..."
"Be still," said the cat. "I'll eat you up, if you say another word."
"All-Gone" was already in the poor mouse's mouth, and she had scarcely said it before the cat jumped on her and swallowed her down.
4)The Wampus Cat
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
They say that the Wampus cat used to be a beautiful Indian woman. The men of her tribe were always going on hunting trips, but the women had to stay home. The Indian woman secretly followed her husband one day when he went hunting with the other men. She hid herself behind a rock, clutching the hide of a mountain cat around her, and spied on the men as they sat around their campfires telling sacred stories and doing magic.
According to the laws of the tribe, it was absolutely forbidden for women to hear the sacred stories and see the tribe's magic. So when the Indian woman was discovered, the medicine man punished her by binding her into the mountain cat skin she wore and then transforming her into a terrible monster - half woman and half mountain cat. Ever after she was doomed to roam the hills, howling desolately because she desires to return to her normal body.
A man was hunting one night with his dogs when they both whimpered and ran off the path. At that moment, the woods were overpowered with a horrible smell like that of a wet animal that had fallen into a bog after it messed with a skunk. Then something howled on the path behind him and the man whirled around, dropping his rifle. His heart pounding with fear, the man found himself staring into the big, glowing yellow eyes of the Wampus Cat. The creature had huge fangs dripping with salvia. It looked kind of like a mountain lion, but it was walking upright like a man. Then it howled, and the man's skin nearly turned inside out in horror.
With a scream of terror, the man leapt backwards and ran as fast as he could through the woods, the Wampus Cat on his heels. He fled to the home of a friend who lived nearby, and burst through the front door only a breath ahead of the creature. His friend slammed the door in the face of the Wampus Cat. Instantly, it started shuddering under the weight of the attacking monster. The man's friend grabbed his Bible and started reading aloud from the Psalms. Upon hearing the holy words, the Wampus Cat howled in frustration and then slowly abandoned its attack and went back into the woods.
The man spent the rest of the night at his friend's place. When he went home at daybreak, he found his dogs huddled in the barn, shaken but still alive. The man never hunted after dark again.