1 Name: Lawli : 2013-05-14 23:49 ID:kPwUoacB [Del]
Ok. For those of you who don't know this story, it's called "The Lady and the Tiger". We read this in my English class. The story is one of those that ends on a note that leaves the reader to guess the ending. I'll give you a short summary of the story, though you may want to look it up and read it for yourself before you read this, though you do not have to.
The story is about a king who lives in a kingdom. He's really harsh. Instead of going to prison, you are put into an arena and you have to choose between two doors. One holds a lady that you are forced to marry then and there, no matter if you are already married or not, and the other holds a starving tiger that will kill you. Everyone in the kingdom loves these events.
Well, the story really focuses on this unnamed princess and her lover. Her lover is not of royalty, and the king finds out about this. He is angered by this and sends the man to the arena. The princess finds out which door holds what, and is having a hard time figuring out which one she should tell the youth to go to. She doesn't want to see him die, but she also is jealous and doesn't want to see him with the maiden, married to someone else. The author ends it, saying she told the man to go to a door, but who is he to be the judge and hold the answer as to which door she leads him to?
Our assignment in English was to write the ending as we think it should end. Here is my ending:
The youth trusted the woman to whom he had given his whole heart with his entire being, and they both knew this. But the look upon his lover's face had been one of great internal conflict, and one that had not seen the great luxury of peaceful, restful sleep in days. And the young man was no fool, he knew why this was, why his love looked so previously distraught. Nevertheless, he accepted whatever fate the woman had decided for him, trusting that she chose kindly. Without any hesitation, he unlatched the door she pointed him toward from the stands, and raised it. But to his horror and confusion, the lovely maiden was not what awaited behind the cursed door. There was no cheering, no priest walking down into the arena to marry him to a woman as lovely as himself, smiling and blushing radiantly.
Instead, he was met by a deep, ominous growl and a flurry of black and orange fur. He was just agile and quick enough to fling himself off to the side as the mighty beast made a lunge for his ribcage, claws extended. He quickly rolled himself to get a better look at the animal and dodge another attack that was sure to come.
A surge of horror sprung throughout the crowd when the tiger was revealed. A woman screamed, having lost her husband to such an animal. Children cried. The stadium watched on in enthusiasm, nonetheless.
The man stood once he took notice of the practically starved tiger's eyes on him yet again. The tiger sprung into action fiercely, letting out a roar akin to a ravenous screech. The man cried out and tried to dart out of the way of the vicious wildcat again, but luck had left him as his leg was caught, being marred by the beat's untamed claws. He cried out once more as he felt warm liquid splash against his calf as more searing pain overtook him.
The princess watched on in awe, afraid for the man she loved, wondering again if she had made the right decision. Many thoughts ran through her mind, many justifications for her murderous deed. Her heart had turned black with jealousy, and now she could only look down with barely an ounce of pity anymore as the poor soul she had loved and condemned was torn to pieces. Her father was watching on with more vigor than he should possess at a time like this.
But no eyes were on the royal spectators, no! All eyes were either being covered by worried mothers or watching eagerly the spectacle below. While we were admiring our lovely nobles in the audience, the man had managed to get free of the thrashing, howling mammal. His leg was broken and bleeding, as was much of him, but he found the strength that most humans do when mortal danger presents itself. He jumped to his feet and ran as fast and as far as he could, despite the excruciating pain. He could hear the animal (who's mind had previously been too clouded with hunger to realize that his prey was gone) bounding behind him.
The young man made it to the stadium wall, looking for some means of escape, of salvation. That is when he saw it. His only hope in this seemingly hopeless situation. A lose stone protruded from the brick wall. Without another moment's hesitation, he began trying to loosen the stone desperately, to pull it free and perhaps survive this fatal affair.
The stone was almost out when the man heard a roar and snarl that was far too close for comfort. With a final heave, the man tore the rock from the arena wall and swung his arm around, hitting the large animal square in the side of the head with a sickening crunch.
All was silent. The princess felt the blackness only grow in her heart, blaming her former lover for surviving. The king could only stare as his blessed avenger lay motionless on the ground, and the man he hated so standing still, covered in blood and breathing deeply.
The princess could only scream in rage. The man had trusted the woman he loved, and she had chosen to kill him rather than see him with another, alive and possibly even happy. How would she be able to face him after they both realized that horrid truth? She knew she could not.
There was a great cheering amongst the crowd, however. This was a change in the normal order of things. The man looked up into the audience, glad to be alive, even for the moment. He dropped the rock and fell to his knees, giving a small yelp to the pain from his broken bones, cuts, and gashes.
The man was half expecting to be lead out by guards or, on the other hand, killed by them. Little did he know that his fate would not be so simple.
The tiger, not, in fact, killed by the blow, was merely dizzied and knocked unconscious for a short moment. For, with a thundering roar of warning from the crowd, the young man turned just in time (yet again) to be met with the fierce, golden eyes of the beast. With the stone that had once been his savior now nowhere to be seen, the tiger attacked, gnawing and thrashing at the poor soul.
The princess and the king both left the stadium, no regret or remorse evident on their faces. Screams, both animalistic and human came from within the arena as she turned her back on the grotesque performance.
When all was said and done, the spectators poured slowly out of the stadium, solemn and thoughtful. Surely the grand events that took place within those walls could not be viewed the same way now. Surely, the princess's heart would soften again, and she would demand the slaughters and marriages to stop.
But when you look back in this story, it was said that none had known such a youth as the one aforementioned and who was the center of the last few events in this story even lived among them. Events hardly changed, as did the feelings towards the stadium as a consequence.
So, when the king died, and the princess herself passed, who was there to remember the youth, his love for the princess, the lady, the stone, or the tiger? This story will probably be lost among the sea of other great tales floating around in the world, but who am I to confirm that as the case? For those of you that have read and enjoyed this great conflict, remember your own doors; one that holds the lady, and one that holds the tiger. And be careful who you trust to lead you to these doors, for a heart is always blacker than it seems.
That's it! What do you guys think? And if you go and read the story itself (it's a short story), feel free to write you own ending if you want! I'd love to hear your opinions on my ending and to hear your versions! Thanks for bothering to read this, lol.
5 Name: Janus : 2013-05-15 14:56 ID:wvi+m9ID [Del]
I like you tied your ending back in with the ambiguity of the original story! Well, I thought I'd give my own ending a shot, although mine is probably a bit idealistic in comparison...
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He knew his princess all too well. If love was truly a flame of the heart, she was the fire which consumed his soul a thousand times over. She was a beast to him--an intoxicating, lovely beast. She swallowed him up in her desires, both careless of his feelings and possessive of his will. She was selfish and beautiful, wrathful in her passion. And in the moment their eyes met in the arena, he knew that she was the one who had determined his fate.
Even now, as he stood in front of the man responsible for his position in the arena, he saw nothing but her callous expression, the flickering gesture which accompanied it
"Go on," her eyes had said to him. "If you love me, then why don't you die?"
He smiled slightly, bowed again. "Truly, she is a beast," he thought.
Without a further doubt, he strode towards the door and flung itopen, accepting his demise and unleashing the stench of carnage all at once. The crowd exploded with cries and shrieks of fear...and then settled over with silence. Murmurs, whispers, a confused shout. No beast stood before them, no happy bride.
The lad stumbled backward, away from the pool of blood forming at his feet. The tiger before him had been slaughtered. He whirled to look up at his princess, the predator who stood above all others. She stared back at him evenly as the crowd began to gather its unity.
"The other door, the other door..." they whispered to each other. The king was outraged, cheated out of his game and demanding an ending to his cruel story of fate.
Unable to break free of her gaze, a terrifying thought formed at the back of his mind. "The other door, what did you do to the other door?"
Driven by fear rather than the demands of the king or the cries of the audience, the young man grasped the handle of the second door, breath hitching in fear of the tragedy which might await him. The door swung open, the crowds lurched to get a better view, and the boy himself was too stunned to move. A wedding dress lay folded on the empty floor, and the door leading outside of the arena was open in front of him.
An angry shout from the king broke him from his trance. He bowed in the direction of his lady and fled out the door, unable to escape the satisfied glint in her eyes, the slight tug of a smile at her lips, and knowing all too well that it was never a matter of choice for him: the lady is the tiger, and the tiger is her.
