THE TALE OF THE TIGRESS
by
Andrea Dale
copyright 2011, Andrea Dale
Published by Soul’s Road Press
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
THE TALE OF THE TIGRESS
by
Andrea Dale
Gather close, my daughters and sons, for I have another tale to tell you, a tale of great courage and great love and yes, great passion, too. You have already heard how the Lotus came into being, and why the Wheelbarrow was so named, and now it is time for you to hear of the Tigress.
Long ago, the gods and goddesses spent more time in the world of men. Some found us amusing; others, an annoyance to be avoided. Still others used us for whatever reasons they chose, or no reason whatsoever except idle whimsy.
Some walked among us in human form and others in their true form, and such was the whim of Budhi Pallien. Yes, you recognize that name: the forest goddess here in the north of India.
Budhi Pallien could be a beautiful woman or a ferocious tiger, and she protected the forest, and of course tigers were close to her heart. So it came to be that a denizen of a small village was out hunting for food. His arrow went wide as he shot at a chital, and it struck a tiger who was also stalking the same deer.
The goddess, as you might imagine—for I see you shuddering with fear—went into a rage. She stalked the young man as he had stalked the chital, and she carried him away into the forest to meet his punishment.
But this is not his story. This story is about Duranjaya, the young man’s brother, whose name means “heroic son” and who journeyed deep into the forest to rescue his sibling.
It is said he traveled for thirty days, and it is also said he wandered for a hundred, and it is also said he journeyed for only three, which is the way of these types of stories. The important point is that he found Budhi Pallien before the goddess had killed his brother.
The other, perhaps less important but perhaps more important point, was that when he found them, he was at first struck dumb at the sight of the goddess’ beauty.