The Tiger and the Persimmon

Deep in the mountains, there once was a teeny-tiny little hidden village full of lovely little houses. It was a calm and quiet place – except for the terrible, horrible tiger living in the hills above. The tiger was indeed huge and terrifying. His loud roar carried far over the hills, and everyone who heard it shuddered in fear.

One day in the dead of winter, the tiger got quite hungry. He decided to come down from the snow-white hills to the village and catch something delicious to eat.

With his ears pricked up for any sound, he quietly crept around the snow-covered houses, listening. Suddenly, he heard a child crying its heart out in one of the houses.

He quietly crept up a little closer. There was a baby boy inside weeping and wailing, sad and exhausted. He must have been crying for a really, really long time.

“Oh, what a nasty sound!” said the tiger, with more than a hint of annoyance in his voice. “If I eat the baby, there will be no more crying.” He licked his big, black lips. The tiger, ready to jump, peeked through the window again, but then the baby’s mother started speaking.

“Oh, look! A fox!” cried out the woman. “Stop crying. If it hears you, it will eat you up, up, up!”

But the baby paid her no mind. He wailed on and on and on, maybe even louder than before. The woman talked and cooed to the baby, trying to comfort him in any way. She tried his favorite toys. Holding him and dancing. Singing sweet songs.

But the baby wouldn’t stop, so she impatiently tried again.

“Oh no!” she yelled. “A bear! With its mouth open wide and it’s going to swallow…