the species that can ever be really monotonous, if he had known. The
Tiger was foolish to allow its true nature to be so disguised by its
love for the man that he was deceived into looking upon it as a domestic
cat. It thought to please him thereby and so lost its hold."

"And what will be the end?" asked the Damsel.

"The man's hand will smart to the end of his life, and he will never
secure another Tiger. And the Tiger will go elsewhere and console itself
by letting its natural instincts have full play. It will not be foolish
a second time."

But the Damsel's conclusion was different.

"No," she said. "The man's hand will heal up, and the Tiger will caress
him and make him forget the bite, and they will love each other to
eternity because they have both realized their own stupidity."

And without speaking further she allowed the Sage to close the door.

* * * * *

_It is wiser to know the species one is playing with: do not offer
Tigers hay--or Antelopes joints of meat._

* * * * *

Next day, in a pouring shower of rain, the Damsel knocked at the Sage's
door. It was for shelter, she said, this time, until the storm should
pass.

The Sage was fairly gracious, and to while away the time the Damsel
began a story.

"A man once owned a brown Sparrow. It had no attractions, and it made a
continuous and wearying noise as it chattered under the eaves. It did
the same thing every day, and had monotonous domestic habits that often
greatly irritated the man, but--he was accustomed to it, and did not
complain. After several years a travelling Showman came along; he had a
large aviary of birds of all sorts, some for sale, some not. Among them
was a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a
creature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became
passionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for
the sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers
of regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and
carried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he
revelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did
its best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. And
the worry and annoyance of concealing the theft from the Showman, and
the different food the Humming Bird required, and the care that had to
be taken of it, at last