The Tiger King

– Ramaswamy
Aiyer
KrishnaMoorthy A.K.A
Kalki
The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram is the hero of this story. He
also came to be known as Tiger King. As soon as he was born,
astrologers had foretold that one day the Tiger King would
actually have to die. The ten-day-old prince addressed the
astrologers as “O wise prophets”. He asked them to tell him
the manner of his death. The chief astrologer said that death
would come from the Tiger. The prince growled, “Let tigers
beware!”

When the crown prince came of age at twenty, his state came
into his hands. There were many forests in the
Pratibandapuram State. They had tigers in them. The
Maharaja started out on a tiger hunt. The Maharaja was
thrilled when he killed his first tiger. He sent for the state
astrologer. The old man said, “Your majesty may kill ninety-
nine tigers in exactly the same manner. But you must be very
careful with the hundredth tiger.” The astrologer promised to
tear up all his books on astrology and set fire to them, if he
killed the hundredth tiger.

The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the

Maharaja. The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other
matters only after killing the hundred tigers. Initially the king
seemed well set to realise his ambition. He faced many
dangers too. Sometimes the bullet missed its mark. The tiger
jumped upon him. He fought the beast with his bare hands.
Each time it was the Maharaja who won.

Once he was in danger of losing his throne. A high-ranking

British officer visited Pratibandapuram. He was very fond of
hunting tigers and fonder of being photographed with the
tigers he had shot. He wished to hunt tigers in
Pratibandapuram. The Maharaja was firm in his resolve. He
refused permission. Since he had prevented a British officer
from fulfilling his desire, the Maharaja stood in danger of
losing his kingdom itself. The Maharaja and the dewan held
deliberations over this issue. About fifty expensive diamond
rings of different designs were sent to the British officer’s
good lady. The king and the minister expected her to choose
one or two rings and send the rest back. But she kept all of
them and sent a letter of thanks. The Maharaja was happy that
though he had lost three lakh of rupees, he had managed to
retain his kingdom.

The Maharaja’s tiger hunt continued to be highly successful.

Within ten years he had killed seventy tigers. But then there
were no tigers left in Pratibandapuram. One day the Maharaja
sent for his dewan and told him that thirty tigers still remained
to be shot down by his gun. He told the dewan that he had
decided to get married. The dewan found the right girl from a
state with a large number of tigers. Each time Maharaja Jung
Jung Bahadur visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six
tigers. In this way ninety-nine tiger skins adorned the walls of
the reception hall in the Pratibandapuram palace.

There remained just one tiger to be killed to reach the figure

of a hundred. But the tiger farms had now run dry even in his
father-in-law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers
anywhere. The Maharaja was sunk in gloom. Soon he got a
happy news. In his own state sheep began to disappear
frequently from a hillside village. Surely, a tiger was at work.
The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja, but the tiger was not
easily found. The Maharaja refused to leave the forest until
the tiger was found. Maharaja’s anger and obstinacy rose
higher. Many officers lost their jobs.

One day the Tiger King was very angry. He called the dewan
and ordered him to double the land tax forthwith. The dewan
said that the people would become discontented. Then their
state too would fall a prey to the Indian National Congress.
The king asked the dewan to resign. The dewan felt afraid. He
felt life returning to him only when he saw the tiger which had
been brought from the People’s Park in Madras and kept
hidden in his house.

At midnight the town was sleeping in peace. The dewan and

his aged wife dragged the old tiger to the car and shoved it
into the seat. The dewan himself drove the car straight to the
forest where the Maharaja was hunting. Now the tiger refused
to get out of the car. Somehow the dewan hauled the beast out
of the car and pushed it down to the ground.

On the following day, the same old tiger wandered into the
Maharaja’s presence and stood there. It was with boundless
joy that the Maharaja took careful aim at the beast. The tiger
fell in a crumpled heap. The Maharaja was happy that his vow
to kill hundred tigers had been fulfilled. Ordering the tiger to
be brought to the capital in grand procession, Maharaja left in
his car. After the Maharaja left, the hunters went to take a
closer look at the tiger. The tiger rolled its eyes and looked
back at them. The men realised that the tiger was not dead.
The bullet had missed it. It had fainted from the shock of the
bullet whizzing past. One of the hunters took aim from a
distance of one foot and shot the tiger. The dead tiger was
taken in procession through the town and buried.

A few days later the third birthday of the Maharaja’s son was
celebrated. He wished to give him some special gift on his
birthday. He spotted a wooden tiger in a toyshop and decided
it was the perfect gift. The wooden tiger cost only two annas
and a quarter. But the shopkeeper called it a bargain at three
hundred rupees. He praised it as an extremely rare example of
craftsmanship. Actually, it had been carved by an unskilled
carpenter. Its surface was rough. Tiny slivers of wood stood
up like quills all over it. When the Maharaja was playing with
his son, one of those slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand.
He pulled it out with his left hand and continued to play with
the prince.

The next day, infection flared in the Maharaja’s right hand. In

four days, it developed into a sore emitting pus. It spread all
over his arm. Three famous surgeons were brought in from
Madras. After holding a consultation, they decided to operate.
The operation was successful but the Maharaja died. In this
manner the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the
Tiger King.

New Words:
1 Strategic: calculated
2 Stuka bomber: a German bomber aircraft that was
 used in the second world war
3 indomitable undefeatable
4 Final abode refers to the final residence of the
soul – the heaven.
5 Demise death
6 Foretold predicted

7 Compelled forced
8 Transfixed cause (someone) to become
motionless with horror.
9 Stupefaction shock
10 Enunciated say or pronounce clearly.
11 Incredible unbelievable
12 Rumour a currently circulating story or report
of uncertain or doubtful truth.
13 Rife widespread, prevalent
14 Hindsight to understand an event or situation
only after it has happened
15 Proclamation a public or official announcement
16 Fling throw
17 Confiscated taken with authority
18 Ambition a strong desire to do or achieve
something.
19 Bare here, unarmed
20 Firm determined
21 Resolve decision
22 Boar pig
23 Durai tamil word meaning chief or leader
24 Carcass the dead body of an animal.
25 Relented relaxed his decision
26 Deliberations discussions
27 Dispatched sent
28 Unforeseen unplanned, accidental
29 Hurdle problem
30 Standstill stop
31 Extinct having no living members.
32 Hara-kiri a ritual of suicide practiced in Japan.
33 Brandishing waving as a threat or in anger or
excitement
34 Shuddering tremble with fear
35 Summoned called
36 Investigate find out
37 Adorned decorated
38 Fever pitch extreme
39 Anxiety curiosity
40 Tally count
41 Savage uncontrolled
42 Wary be cautious
43 Gloom sadness

44 Dispelled removed
45 Exemption freedom
46 Wantonly carelessly
47 Flout to go against something or someone
48 Fury anger
49 Bafflement confusion
50 Mounted increased
51 Discontented unhappy
52 Catastrophic causing sudden great damage or
suffering
53 Supplication pray
54 Elation joy
55 Procession parade
56 Suppurating a wound full of pus
57 Sore painful inflammation