‘The Lady, or the Tiger?’

Frank R. Stockton was an American contemporary of Mark Twain and, like Twain, wrote stories that were both humorous and thought-provoking.

Perhaps his most famous is, “The Lady, or the Tiger?”

The story is set in a fictional kingdom ruled over by a “semi-barbaric” king. He has made some progress toward modern ideas, but has yet retained some of his culture’s former barbarism. One example is his method of settling important court cases.

The king has had an arena built with some peculiar features. It is not meant for gladiators to fight each other, or wild beasts.

Instead, beneath where the king and his court sat, a door would open, and out would walk the accused person. After turning and making the proper bows to the king, the suspect would walk across the arena, where there were two doors.

Behind one of these was a ferocious tiger, which would immediately dispense justice to the wrong-doer. Behind the other was a beautiful lady, specially selected to be a suitable bride for the now-exonerated person. A wedding would take place immediately, whether the man was already married or not.

Blind justice would determine which action would result, as the suspect would never know which fate was behind which door. It was left to pure chance.

Now, the king had a beautiful daughter, and he discovered one day that she had a lover -- one of whom the king did not approve. In his usual semi-barbaric fashion, the king arranged for the young man to undergo the ordeal of choosing a door.

But there was a twist: The princess knew which door hid the lady, and which the tiger. In fact, the lady chosen as a potential mate for this young man was known to the princess -- she had seen them talking, and was jealous.

Anyway, the princess came to learn the secret of the doors. And when her lover stopped to bow to the king, she was sitting beside him, and indicated by a sign that the young man should open the right-hand door.

And here the story ends. Did the princess send her lover to certain death, avoiding a marriage to a rival? Or did she spare his life only to see him married to her competition?

The author never tells us what the princess did. 

Vocabulary: Which words above mean: 

1. destiny, result

2. uncivilized

3. a person who breaks the law

4. a test, a challenge

5. proven not guilty

6. professional fighters

7. a stadium

8. give out

9. causing one to think

10. an unexpected part of a story

ANSWERS: 1. fate 2. barbaric 3. wrong-doer 4. ordeal 5. exonerated 6. gladiators 7. arena 8. dispense 9. thought-provoking 10. twist