Reading Notes: Santal Folklore, Reading B

 The Tigers and the Cat

This story was a rollercoaster. I really enjoyed reading when the cats and tigers were friends and it really seemed like all the tigers were being mean to the cat because there were more of them and they were bigger but I have to admit that I liked the ideas that cats and tigers would have been friends and would have enjoyed to work together to hunt. The other thing that this story does really well is to explain why the creatures do what they do. It makes sense and if you know anything about any of the animals it lines up pretty well with what they do in real life or at least what they seem to do in real life. The story also makes sense in a way in a fantastical sort of way but it does make sense that the tigers would enjoy cooked meat and find it as an insult that they would have to eat the meat raw. As a person I would probably feel the same way however in this story it seems more like not only were the tigers mean but they also lacked patients. Despite the cat taking the time to let the fire cool so that he could get the milk he still completed his task and brought the fire but that didn't matter because not only did he not get the chance to eat the thing that he had assisted in killing but also he brought the fire yet the other tigers were going to eat him regardless and probably use the fire that he brought to cook him which is really messed up to think about. The part of the story that I did not like was the end I understood that the tigers could have been scared of the dogs but because it ended with them eating dogs I just thought that it was really surprising and a little sad and I thought it to too be not necessary and if it is true that would just make me feel sadder. 

Tiger and the Cat

Bibliography

Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).