A Tiger Comes to Town-I
by R.K. Narayan
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Told from the tiger's own point of view, this story is about a runaway circus tiger that wanders into a town. Finding his enclosure unguarded, the tiger walks down the Market Road, only to see people running for their lives, pulling down shutters and hiding in drains, on trees and behind pillars. At the circus he had believed human beings were strong and fearless, because they sat calmly while he cowered before the Captain's whip; now he is confused to find them timid and terrified. Though he has no intention of attacking anyone and is 'too full' after grazing in a green pasture, the townspeople panic. Schools close early and children shout joyously, 'No school, Tiger, Tiger!' The tiger follows them into a school, enters the Headmaster's room (the Headmaster leaps into the attic in fear) and falls asleep on the cool stone floor. The teachers lock the room and keep watch. When a teacher calls the tiger a 'brute', the tiger's circus Master arrives and angrily rebukes them: 'brute' and 'beast' are ugly words coined by arrogant man. Asked who he is, the Master replies with a profound question: 'Are you sure you know who you are?'
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The tiger walks into town
The runaway circus tiger enters the Market Road. At the sight of him people run for their lives, shutters are pulled down, and men hide in drains, on trees and behind pillars. A tailor abandons his machine and shuts himself in a cupboard; a prisoner escapes when his two constables flee. The tiger even tears a horse from its Jutka and enjoys watching the passengers spill out and run.
The tiger's wrong idea of human beings
At the circus the tiger had no chance to study human beings. They sat peacefully in their seats while he cowered before the Captain's whip, so he formed a totally wrong idea, that humans were strong and fearless. Now, seeing them flee like a herd of deer, he is confused. He rests at a restaurant door where the coffee-drinkers freeze in terror, and he silently wishes to assure them that he will not attack, that he is 'too full' after finding a green pasture, and that tigers attack only when hungry, unlike human beings who kill one another without purpose or hunger.
In the school and the Headmaster's room
Schools are hurriedly closed and children run about screaming joyously, 'No school, Tiger, Tiger!' The tiger follows them through the school gate; they shut themselves in the school hall. He walks into the Headmaster's room, sees the dignified Headmaster heave himself up into the attic, and flings himself on the cool stone floor to sleep, his head under the large desk. While he sleeps he is safely locked in and watched.
The Master defends the tiger
A teacher says that now the 'brute' is safely locked up they must decide what to do. The tiger's Master pushes through the crowd and scolds them: they must never use the words 'beast' or 'brute', which are ugly words coined by man in his arrogance. When they call him reckless and ask who he is, the Master gives a profound answer, that he has spent all his life trying to find out who he is, and asks them, 'Are you sure you know who you are?' The lesson shows that animals have feelings and attack only when provoked, and that human fear of animals comes from not understanding them.