The Tiger King
By- Kalki
Short and Simple Summary of the lesson in English– The Tiger King/ Summary in simple Words/ Critical appreciation of the lesson – The Tiger King
Summary
When Maharaja Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur was born, the astrologers had foretold that One day the king would die. The ten-day-old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur started speaking; he told them that all those born would have to die one day. He asked the astrologers to tell the manner of his death. Everyone was stunned. An infant born just ten days ago was talking in such a manner. The chief astrologer told the Prince that he was born in the hour of the bull. As bull and tiger were enemies so his death would come from the tiger. The royal arrogance surfaces when the infant pronounces “Let tigers beware!”
The Maharaja grew stronger and took to tiger hunting. He was overjoyed when he killed the first tiger. When he told the chief astrologer about it, the chief astrologer told him that he may kill 99 tigers but he must be careful with the hundredth one. In ten years he killed 70 tigers. He banned the killing of tigers in Pratibandhpuram. The tiger population became extinct at Pratibandhpuram. So the Maharaja, on the advice of the dewan married a princess of a state where the tiger population was large. He would hunt tigers during his visits to his father-in-law. He managed to kill 99 tigers but one was still left. There was no sign of tigers anywhere. The Maharaja could not bear it any more. He raised the land tax and also dismissed some of his men.
Finally, the dewan arranged for a tiger which was brought from the ‘People’s Park in Madras’. It was dragged and driven to the forest and left where it would be spotted by the Maharaja. The Maharaja had taken his men for hunting. He shot the tiger and it dropped dead. The elated Maharaja did not notice that the weak and emaciated tiger had fainted from the shock of the bullet shot. Maharaja’s men knew it but they feared that if they revealed this fact, then they would surely lose their jobs. So they killed the tiger. The Maharaja did not know that he still has one tiger left to be killed.
Maharaja had to attend his three-year-old son’s birthday. He gifted him a wooden tiger. The tiger was made by an unskilled man. Its surface was rough. A wood sliver pierced into the Maharaja’s hand. Next day the infection spread into his whole hand and three surgeons performed the operation but failed to save the king’s life.
Thus the fateful hundredth tiger, though a wooden one, was the cause of the Maharaja’s death and proved the prediction of the astrologer correct.
Summary (2)
The Tiger King’ describes the Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram. When the king was just 10 days old, astrologers predicted that he would be killed by a tiger. At this, the 10 days old prince, for a surprise to all, uttered, ‘Let tigers beware!’. The child grew like any other royal child, drinking the milk of a white cow looked after by an English nanny and watching English movies.
At the age of 20, he was crowned as the king and came to know about the prediction relating to his death. From then, he started killing tigers and banned the tiger hunt by any other person in the state. As per the astrologer he needed to be careful with the hundredth tiger even if he had killed ninety-nine tigers.
Once a high ranking British officer visited his state and wanted to go for tiger hunting. But his wish was declined and in order to secure his state from the wrath of the British officer, the Maharaja sent 50 diamond rings worth Rs3 lakh to the officer’s wife.
The Maharaja killed seventy tigers in ten years and there was no tiger left in Pratibandapuram. In order 10 achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers, the Maharaja decided to marry a girl from a royal state which had more tigers to complete his target. Every time, when he used to visit his in-laws, he used to kill 5-6 tigers. In this way, he could kill ninety-nine tigers but couldn’t find the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja got furious for not finding the hundredth tiger and threatened the Dewan who in order to save himself got an old tiger from the circus and with great difficulty placed it in the forest.
The Maharaja shot this tiger and felt happy and victorious. But, in fact, the bullet did not hit the tiger. The tiger collapsed out of fear. But none of the staff wanted to take the risk of telling the truth to the Maharaja. So they killed it and brought it in a grand procession.
Finally, Tiger King was happy and satisfied. On the third birthday of his son, he bought a wooden tiger for his as a gift. This was so poorly carved that while playing with it, a tiny sliver of the wood pierced the king’s apt hand which later on developed an infection. He was operated upon and during this, he died. Thus, ironically the hundredth tiger, i.e. the wooden tiger, took its revenge and killed the tiger king.
