An Indian Princess - A Modern Day Fairytale (Completed)

Chapter 4.4

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Dedicated to meenadevi_1991

Part 4 of 6

Nidhi lost track of time. There was something in his eyes that calmed her and Nidhi didn’t know why, but she wanted to be closer to him. She put one foot forward and stood like that for a few seconds. She took another step and stood still again for a few more seconds. He moved towards her and she took a step back. He took two steps back.

He was bigger than his kind normally was. He was a magnificent creature and Nidhi was in awe. She watched him again to see what he would do but he just stood there. For the first time in thirty minutes she looked back to Ruh. He was sitting on his hind watching her. He was actually sitting while a tiger could jump past her and kill him or the tiger could jump on her and kill her.

She turned her head back to the tiger and once again calmness took over and Nidhi took a step in his direction. ‘What if that was his power, what if the calming effect he had on everyone was how he got his dinner, what if that was how he caught his prey?’ Nidhi thought about that for a moment.

Nidhi took two more steps towards the tiger and two more steps would put her next to the tiger but Nidhi decided not to tempt fate. She watched him as he sniffed the air and he had this strange look, almost like he was fighting to keep his distance from her. His fur was a deep orange and his black stripes were shiny and the lighter areas from his neck down to his belly was as white as snow, he had a big head and his jaw was square almost giving him a unique look.

Nidhi couldn’t help but think of a folk tale she once heard about a tiger that was able to change into anything he wanted. This story was told to explain the Tamil proverb, “Śummâ irukkiraya, śuruvattai kâṭṭaṭṭuma,” which means - “Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape.”

The story was about a tiger that could change into anything. There was a girl in a village close to where he lived in the woods and she was always falling in love but her father said she was too young to marry. So when she became of age her father decided it was time for her to marry. The tiger heard about her and he decided to change himself into a beautiful young man so he could marry her and bring her back to the woods so she could cook for him and be a wife to him.

Everything happened as he had planned and days later he returned to his house in the woods. The girl’s mother had told him that he should let her daughter rest when they found water and shade but as soon as his bride asked him to rest he said no and told her that she should be quite or he will show her his true shape.

She was scared and walked on but the next time she saw water and asked for him to stop so she can rest he got angry with her and said that they would be at his home soon. She then told him to show his true shape and right in front of her eyes he changed into a tiger. The story didn’t end well for the tiger.