Brother Tiger

Long, long ago, there was a poor woodcutter who lived with his old mother in a small village next to an evergreen forest. The woodcutter would leave the house early in the morning to chop down pine and spruce trees, but every day he had to go deeper and deeper into the forest to make a living for himself and his mother.

One day, he was cutting down trees in the middle of the forest as usual, chopping the trunks into pieces and picking up the cut-off branches. He paid no mind to his surroundings; he was so focused on what he was doing.

All of a sudden he raised his eyes and saw a huge tiger standing right in front of him. The beast was examining him with its baleful, glaring yellow-green eyes, then roared so loudly that the whole valley trembled.

“You’ll make an excellent dinner,” growled the tiger and took a few slow and solid steps towards the woodcutter. The man turned pale as death, imagining the terrible end he would surely meet. And meet quite soon!

But then he remembered his loving mother. “Oh, poor mom,” he thought to himself, “she’s so old and weak these days, she can’t take care of herself. Who’s going to look after her if this scary tiger eats me? I can’t leave her all alone in this world!”

The woodcutter plucked up his courage and smiled at the tiger. He kneeled before the beast and bowed so low his face touched the ground. “Thank goodness it’s you!” The surprised tiger took a step back. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all!

“Oh, my dearest, longest lost older brother, I’m so happy to finally meet you,” said the woodcutter as politely as he…