Contents:

THE LADY, OR THE TIGER? ...........................................................................................................1

Frank R. Stockton..................................................................................................................1

In the very olden time there lived a semibarbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished

and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and

untrammeled, as became the half of him which was barbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy,

and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He

was greatly given to selfcommuning, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing

was done. When every member of his domestic and political systems moved smoothly in its

appointed course, his nature was bland and genial; but, whenever there was a little hitch, and some

of his orbs got out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for nothing pleased him so

Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become semified was that of the public

arena, in which, by exhibitions of manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined

But even here the exuberant and barbaric fancy asserted itself The arena of the king was built, not

to give the people an opportunity of hearing the rhapsodies of dying gladiators, nor to enable them

to view the inevitable conclusion of a conflict between religious opinions and hungry jaws, but for

purposes far better adapted to widen and develop the mental energies of the people. This vast

amphitheater, with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an

agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an

When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king, public notice

was given that on an appointed day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king's

arena, a structure which well deserved its name, for, although its form and plan were borrowed

from afar, its purpose emanated solely from the brain of this man, who, every barleycorn a king,

knew no tradition to which he owed more allegiance than pleased his fancy, and who ingrafted on

every adopted form of human thought and action the rich growth of his barbaric idealism.

When all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, surrounded by his court, sat high

up on his throne of royal state on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him

opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheater. Directly opposite him, on the

other side of the inclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and

the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could

open either door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the

aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a

hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which immediately sprang upon

him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. The moment that the case of the criminal

was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great wails went up from the hired mourners

posted on the outer rim of *the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast

hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly that one so young and fair, or so old

But, if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most suitable

to his years and station that his majesty could select among his fair subjects, and to this lady he

was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. It mattered not that he might already

possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own

selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of

retribution and reward. The exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and in the

arena. Another door opened beneath the king, and a priest, followed by a band of choristers, and

dancing maidens blowing joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure,

advanced to where the pair stood, side by side, and the wedding was promptly and cheerily

solemnized. Then the gay brass bells rang forth their merry peals, the people shouted glad hurrahs,

and the innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his path, led his bride to his home.

This was the king's semibarbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious.

The criminal could not know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he pleased,

without having the slightest idea whether, in the next instant, he was to be devoured or married. On

some occasions the tiger came out of one door, and on some out of the other. The decisions of this

tribunal were not only fair, they were positively determinate: the accused person was instantly

punished if he found himself guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot, whether he liked

The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of the great trial

days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding.

This element of uncertainty lent an interest to the occasion which it could not otherwise have

attained. Thus, the masses were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the community

could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan, for did not the accused person have the

This semibarbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as

fervent and imperious as his own. As is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and was

loved by him above all humanity. Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood

and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens.

This royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for he was handsome and brave to a degree

unsurpassed in all this kingdom, and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of barbarism in it

to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love affair moved on happily for many months, until

one day the king happened to discover its existence. He did not hesitate nor waver in regard to his

duty in the premises. The youth was immediately cast into prison, and a day was appointed for his

trial in the king's arena. This, of course, was an especially important occasion, and his majesty, as

well as all the people, was greatly interested in the workings and development of this trial. Never

before had such a case occurred; never before had a subject dared to love the daughter of the

king. In after years such things became commonplace enough, but then they were in no slight

The tigercages of the kingdom were searched for the most savage and relentless beasts, from

which the fiercest monster might be selected for the arena; and the ranks of maiden youth and

beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by competent judges in order that the young

man might have a fitting bride in case fate did not determine for him a different destiny. Of course,

everybody knew that the deed with which the accused was charged had been done. He had loved

the princess, and neither he, she, nor any one else, thought of denying the fact; but the king would

not think of allowing any fact of this kind to interfere with the workings of the tribunal, in which he

took such great delight and satisfaction. No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be

disposed of, and the king would take an aesthetic pleasure in watching the course of events, which

would determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in allowing himself to love the

The appointed day arrived. From far and near the people gathered, and thronged the great

galleries of the arena, and crowds, unable to gain admittance, massed themselves against its

outside walls. The king and his court were in their places, opposite the twin doors, those fateful

All was ready. The signal was given. A door beneath the royal party opened, and the lover of the

princess walked into the arena. Tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum of

admiration and anxiety. Half the audience had not known so grand a youth had lived among them.

As the youth advanced into the arena he turned, as the custom was, to bow to the king, but he did

not think at all of that royal personage. His eyes were fixed upon the princess, who sat to the right

of her father. Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probable that lady would

not have been there, but her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an

occasion in which she was so terribly interested. From the moment that the decree had gone forth

that her lover should decide his fate in the king's arena, she had thought of nothing, night or day,

but this great event and the various subjects connected with it. Possessed of more power,

influence, and force of character than any one who had ever before been interested in such a case,

she had done what no other person had done,she had possessed herself of the secret of the

doors. She knew in which of the two rooms, that lay behind those doors, stood the cage of the tiger,

with its open front, and in which waited the lady. Through these thick doors, heavily curtained with

skins on the inside, it was impossible that any noise or suggestion should come from within to the

person who should approach to raise the latch of one of them. But gold, and the power of a

And not only did she know in which room stood the lady ready to emerge, all blushing and radiant,

should her door be opened, but she knew who the lady was. It was one of the fairest and loveliest

of the damsels of the court who had been selected as the reward of the accused youth, should he

be proved innocent of the crime of aspiring to one so far above him; and the princess hated her.

Often had she seen, or imagined that she had seen, this fair creature throwing glances of

admiration upon the person of her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were

perceived, and even returned. Now and then she had seen them talking together; it was but for a

moment or two, but much can be said in a brief space; it may have been on most unimportant

topics, but how could she know that? The girl was lovely, but she had dared to raise her eyes to the

loved one of the princess; and, with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through

long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind

When her lover turned and looked at her, and his eye met hers as she sat there, paler and whiter

than any one in the vast ocean of anxious faces about her, he saw, by that power of quick

perception which is given to those whose souls are one, that she knew behind which door crouched

the tiger, and behind which stood the lady. He had expected her to know it. He understood her

nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until she had made plain to herself this

thing, hidden to all other lookerson, even to the king. The only hope for the youth in which there

was any element of certainty was based upon the success of the princess in discovering this

mystery; and the moment he looked upon her, he saw she had succeeded, as in his soul he knew

Then it was that his quick and anxious glance asked the question: "Which?" It was as plain to her

as if he shouted it from where he stood. There was not an instant to be lost. The question was

Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight,

quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the

He turned, and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped

beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the

Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady ?

The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human

heart which leads us through devious mazes of passion, out of which it is difficult to find our way.

Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that

hotblooded, semibarbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of

How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild horror, and covered her

face with her hands as she thought of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited

But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! How in her grievous reveries had she

gnashed her teeth, and torn her hair, when she saw his start of rapturous delight as he opened the

door of the lady! How her soul had burned in agony when she had seen him rush to meet that

woman, with her flushing cheek and sparkling eye of triumph; when she had seen him lead her

forth, his whole frame kindled with the joy of recovered life; when she had heard the glad shouts

from the multitude, and the wild ringing of the happy bells; when she had seen the priest, with his

joyous followers, advance to the couple, and make them man and wife before her very eyes; and

when she had seen them walk away together upon their path of flowers, followed by the

tremendous shouts of the hilarious multitude, in which her one despairing shriek was lost and

Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of

Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of

anguished deliberation. She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would

answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, she had moved her hand to the right.

The question of her decision is one not to be lightly considered, and it is not for me to presume to

set myself up as the one person able to answer it. And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out