The Two Tigers

In this unit of Stories, we have been talking about fables. This is the second Action Project for this class. During this class we read some of the Aesop Fables and Panchatantra Fables. In these fables we observed the characters, personification, and symbolism. We also talked about how animals are given different human characteristics in fables. An owl for example is very wise or a monkey is curious. Symbolism is very important in a fable because it can help lead the protagonist to the lesson at the end. We talked about different characters in the story such as the protagonist, antagonist, and confidants. For this Action Project we were asked to create a fable. For my fable, I chose to have two tigers as my characters. I decided to make the lesson in my fable is to have patience. I chose this value because it is important to be patient because it can take away stress and be calm and centered.

The Two Tigers

This is the story of two tigers.. The first tiger was named Titus, and his brother was Tano. The two tigers liked to stay together because they always fought against each other. Titus was strong and fast for his age while Tano was small and young. Every time they played, Titus would win, and he told Tano to be better. Tano thought that one day he would be able to beat Titus. So Tano decided to be better as Titus said. 

On a warm morning on the savanna, Tano and Titus were out hunting. They needed to get some food because they were running low. It was Tano’s first time hunting with his brother and this meant a lot to him. When a tiger gets their first successful hunt they will earn more respect on the savanna. Tano was anxious to track and catch a gazelle. Titus took the lead and began moving swiftly through the tall grass. Tano tried following close behind, but he was not as fast as Titus and briefly lost him. So Tano thought to look where the sun was in the sky. It was high enough where it could still cast a long shadow on Tano but shined clearly through the grass. Tano continued moving forward and reached the clearing of the grass. He saw Titus waiting for him, and Tano ran up to meet him. “What have you been doing Tano? I’ve been waiting for you,” said Titus angrily. Tano replied, “I am sorry brother, I lost you in the grass. I became sidetracked by the position of the sun.” Titus looked at his brother. He was not happy Tano could not keep up with him. “Did I not train you to be faster Tano?” Tano looked away quickly in shame. “You did brother, but I cannot become faster or stronger in a matter of days. It takes time to be able to do this.” Titus said, “Until you catch your first gazelle you are not a real tiger. Now let’s get going.”

The brothers continued moving across the plains to the usual hunting grounds where gazelles roamed about. Tano did his best to keep up with his brother, and his efforts were mostly successful. He was very sad that Titus had said he wasn’t a real tiger, but it was true. Tano had never gone hunting before. Every other time he had been too small, and his brother didn’t want him coming along. If he was able to hunt and a gazelle today Tano may be granted more notice and respect from his brother. Titus and Tano continued running until they were able to look from above at the gazelle herd. They spied on them from their rocky perch, searching for ones by themselves on the edges of the clearing. When they found two, Titus and Tano split up and began moving towards their gazelles. Tano hid in the grass not too far from his prey. He could see Titus creeping toward his gazelle crouching behind rocks. They waited for other roaming gazelles to pass by. The ones they had chosen to track and haunt continued to graze where each other's gazelle wouldn’t scatter if movements were identified. Tano looked at his brother to see if he would make any signals to pounce at the same time, but none were made. 

Titus was a decent hunter, using his speed to stay with his prey when in a chase. Tano watched his brother grow tense, and he knew that Titus’ impatience was pulling at him to attack. Tano realized that his brother’s movements were starting to alert his prey. Titus could cause all of the gazelles to run away if he started to chase one. Titus’s gazelle started moving farther from the herd helping Titus get a better position to attack. Tano began to focus on his gazelle, following close behind and staying quiet. Suddenly Titus leaped from the grass and startled his prey causing a chase. The other gazelles including the one Tano was focused on started to move away. Tano’s prey continued to move alone because it was away from the large herd. Titus and his victim ran away from the clearing. Tano told himself to stay quiet and wait for a good opportunity to pounce. Tano waited patiently for his prey to start grazing again. The gazelle began to walk to a pond up ahead, and Tano crouched behind it. When his prey started to take a drink, Tano pounced and caught the gazelle with ease. Tano had made his first hunt successfully. So Tano became a real tiger because of his patience in hunting.

This Action Project was a lot of fun to work on. I enjoyed creating a fable and developing the characters to flow with it. Trying to find a good lesson to be shown at the end was difficult at the start. Once I was able to get rolling with the story and letting it transform along the way I could write it out easily. I chose two tigers for this fable because I thought a rivalry between brothers especially being hunter animals would make for a good story involving patience. Tigers are some of the animals that are very patient. They will sit and follow their prey when hunting for long periods of time which I tried to use in this fable. I have also never drawn a much tiger in detail before and it was nice to do that. This unit didn't call for much Field Experiences but we had none due to the covid-19 pandemic. I hope you enjoyed reading the fable I created.