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19. SOME VERSIONS OF THE TALE OF VYĀGHRAMĀRI
The tale of Vyāghramāri (No. 32 and 43 in the Sukasaptati, Textus Simplicior, ed. R. Schmidt, 1893; reprinted. 1959) can be outlined as follows: A quarrelsome woman once picked up a quarrel with her husband and left home taking her two young sons alongwith her. While passing through a thick forest she saw a tiger about to charge at her. Putting up a bold face she slapped her sons saying, “Why are you quarrelling to have each of you a whole tiger for the dinner? You share this one for the time. We may shortly chance to get another one.' Hearing these words the tiger thought her to be none else than the legendary Tiger-killer, and scared to death he fled. On the way a jackal tried to convince him that what he believed to be the Tiger-killer was a mere human being. The tiger, not quite trusting the jackal, agreed to go back with the jackal tethered on his neck. As the woman saw the strange pair approaching, she pointed an accusing finger at the jackal and shouted, "You crook! Previously you supplied me three tigers and hence I trusted you. How is that you have now brought just one ?' Hearing these words the tiger took to his heels.
In the version presereved in a Kashmiri folk tale, it is a farmer's wife who posing as a tiger-killer tries this trick, because her husband was forced to promise a cow to the tiger (cheetah) in order to save himself. The scared tiger in his second approach ties up his tail with that of the jackal, who dragged and dashed on the ground by the fleeing tiger meets his death in the end.*
In another version, expanded and mixed with another motif and current in Rajasthan and Gujarat, the animals are three instead of two viz., lion, hyena and monkey and each one is outwitted in turn.
* A very short summary we find in the Pancasati-prodha-sambun tha of Subhasila
(Story no. 454 p. 246), ed. Mrugendra Muni, Surat, 1968.
