There was a wild sow in the jungles of Tripura. She lived happily with her children. One day, while she was searching for food for her children in the jungle, she noticed a weeping tiger cub near a bush. Finding no trace of the cub’s mother, she thought that the tigress might have been killed by the hunters. The mother pig took pity on the cub and thought, ‘How can I leave this orphan cub in such a condition? After all, I am a mother. I shall take the cub with me and rear him up.’
The mother pig began to look after the cub along with her children as best as possible. Thus the tiger cub became a member of the pig family. He and the piglets used to play together, roam together and sleep together. The days passed on.
One day, the mother pig died. The cub was, by then, a full-grown tiger and the piglets were not little at all but big, fat pigs. By nature, a tiger lives on flesh. A deep desire for eating flesh gradually developed in the tiger. He was tempted to devour the flesh of the pigs. Direct attack could earn a bad name as they had grown up together. Therefore, he chalked out a plan.
One day, he said to one of the pigs, “Brother, last night I had a dream. In my dream, I saw I was eating you up. It is a sin to dishonour a dream. Therefore, I have decided to kill you and eat your flesh. I am ready to fulfil your last desire, if there be any, before killing you.”
The pig tried his best to make the tiger understand that a dream had nothing to do with reality. But the tiger was adamant. By then, the pig realized that it would be too difficult to escape from the clutches of the tiger. At last, the pig said, “If you kill me, other pigs will defame you. I think, it would be better if three animals accept your argument before you kill me.”
The tiger agreed to the proposal.
Both of them first went to a monkey and narrated the entire story. The monkey supported the proposal. Then, both of them met a hen who also supported the tiger. The tiger was very delighted but the pig was very upset.
At last, they appeared before a bat. After hearing the claim of the tiger, he immediately realized the intention of the tiger.
However, he disclosed nothing and only said, “It is a very complicated matter. I would request you to go to the king for proper judgement.” He also informed them that he would appear in the king’s court at the time of the hearing of the case.
Both the tiger and the pig appeared before the king in his.court and narrated the whole episode. The pig also informed the king that a witness would appear very soon. The king asked them to wait for a while and took up other royal business.
Suddenly, the bat fell from the ceiling of the royal court on the ground and began to dance with joy. The king warned the bat not to misbehave in the court.
The bat prayed to the king to forgive him for his behaviour. “My Lord! I fell asleep while waiting on the ceiling of the court.
At that time, I had a dream but I am afraid to narrate it,” the bat said, rather scared.
The king told him, “Don’t worry, you can narrate the dream without any fear.”
The bat then narrated, “In my dream, I saw that I was marrying the princess.” He prayed to the king to fulfil his dream by arranging his marriage to princess.
The king, naturally, became very angry and cautioned him not to press for such an absurd demand. Then he said, “It is not proper to put forward a proposal on the basis of a dream. A dream is a dream and has no connection with reality.”
The bat seized the opportunity and asked, “If that is true, then how can the tiger demand to kill the pig and eat his flesh on the strength of his dream?”
The king accepted the bat’s arguments and rejected outright the proposal of the tiger. He also ordered the tiger and the pig to live separately in the jungle.