Three Men Make a Tiger

[Amelica 223]

 

Three Men Make a Tiger

 

 

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Long, long ago, in lands forgotten by time, a beautiful peninsula-kingdom thrived in the Far East. The landscape of this domain harbored magnificent peaks that gave way to lush valleys, narrow coastal plains, and dense forests. Tales of this bygone kingdom drifted like dreams through whispers and murmurs; dreams steeped in history, honor, and tradition. 

 

At some point in time, this kingdom was ruled by a great King. This King was renowned throughout all of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Kingdoms for his beauty, strength, and kindness. He was beloved by all of his citizens, and his rule marked an era of peace and stability – but this peace would not last.

 

One day, the King was visited by a distraught messenger from the South. He was bedraggled, disheveled, and frantic; his appearance was unbecoming of someone presenting to the King. But in the King’s patience and grace, he decided to host the man. His unkempt appearance had piqued the King’s interest.

 

“Tell me, young man, what disturbs you so?”

 

The man fell to the ground in a kowtow, tears streaming out of his eyes. “My King, there is a terrible creature roaming our southern lands and terrorizing our citizens. They say it has parts both human and tiger–the beast is devouring our livestock and kidnapping our children!”

 

Upon hearing the man’s story, the King’s advisors roared with laughter. “A human tiger? This is a fantasy born from a madman's imagination.”

 

The King, too, shrugged off the tale as the ravings of a lunatic and sent the messenger away.

 

But four days later, two more men who were just as distraught as the first came to the King, heralding the same news. Now that he had been approached by three different men with the same story, his opinion began to change; he suspected that these men were telling the truth.

 

Against the wishes of his advisors, the King embarked on a trip to the southern lands. “If we leave this dangerous creature to prowl across our lands, it may soon reach the upper cities as well. I will follow the complaints of our people and examine their grievances.”

 

When the King arrived in the afflicted city, the townspeople directed him toward the mountains.

 

“The man-tiger lives there. He comes down at night, terrorizing us and disappearing before we can retaliate.”

 

Again, the King defied the wishes of his attendants and approached the mountain alone. He fully believed in the existence of this beast; his fear of the creature all but consumed him. For three nights and four days, he prowled the area, hoping to catch the man-tiger once and for all.

 

“If I wear the paws of this beast, will I be able to emulate its tracks?” The King wondered. He made some paws with sticks and leaves and fitted them over his feet.

“If I wear the stripes of this beast, will I be able to understand its mind?”  The King wondered. He painted some jagged black lines over his skin with blackberry juice.

“If I act as wild as this beast, will I be able to understand its behavior?” The King wondered. He let down his hair and exchanged his adventuring clothes for foliage.

 

Alas, his efforts yielded no results. On the fourth day, the King descended from the mountain and approached the village, prepared to assure its inhabitants that the man-tiger was a fabrication.

 

But when he arrived at the village, he was met with harrowing shrieks. The townspeople screamed profanities at him, hurling whatever they could grasp in his direction.

 

“You foul creature! What have you done to our King? Did you devour him, too, after he courageously held you off for three weeks?”

 

Three weeks? Foul creature? Bewildered, the King looked down at himself. His hair, which had previously been tied back into a tight topknot, now wildly cascaded down his back, stopping short at his waist. Under his torn clothes, countless jagged black lines ran over and under the crevices of his skin. His nails had grown into claws, and his hands were bruised and rough. His feet had been replaced by two beaten-down makeshift paws. In a state of panic, the King fled back into the mountain.

 

In the following weeks, the King was declared dead, and his young nephew took the throne. The southern town settled back down as the attacks came to a stop, and the man-tiger became nothing more than a horror story to recount during late evening outings. But on some dark nights, when the village children snuck out in secret, they came running back in tears, shakily reporting the existence of a furious, beastly man with stripes across his skin, prowling the perimeter of the village and raking his claws across the ground.

 

 

삼인성호

三人成虎

Three men make a tiger.

 

 

Spoiler

"Chinese people use this idiom "Three Men Make A Tiger"--San Ren Cheng Hu to describe the case in which a lie, if repeated often enough, will be accepted as truth."

 

Loosely based on the titular idiom. Designed to suit some more relevant and recent situations. 

Spoiler

Remember Yong Ping lol