The Tiger and the Persimmon Fairy Tale

One winter night a hungry tiger came down from the mountains into a village. He crept up to the window of a house and listened. Inside, a little child was crying.

"Stop crying, or the fox will come!" said the mother. The child cried even louder. "Stop crying, or the tiger will come!" Still the child would not stop. The tiger outside was astonished. "This child isn't even afraid of me!"

Then the mother said, "Here is a persimmon! Eat the persimmon." At once the child stopped crying. The tiger was terrified. "Who is this Persimmon? It must be even scarier than me!"

Just then a thief who had come to steal a cow from the barn jumped onto the tiger's back in the dark. He thought the tiger was a cow.

"It's the Persimmon! It has caught me!" thought the tiger, and he raced off towards the mountains in fear. The thief, just as frightened, clung to his fur and screamed at the top of his voice.

At last the thief caught hold of a branch and tumbled off the tiger's back. The tiger fled over the mountains. Ever since, as soon as he hears the word "persimmon", he never comes anywhere near the village.