The King of the Forest

by Hongping Liu

Part III : Ella, Stream and Sis

1. A Bad Fall

After the two cubs were born, Tiger Queen Ella was responsible for looking after them while Tiger King Bole hunted for food and defended or expanded the territory of the kingdom. The son was called Tiger Stream and the daughter, Sis.

After feeding her cubs, Ella felt a little tired and fell asleep. Suddenly a sharp cry woke her. Ella opened her eyes and saw Sis crying. Sis motioned to her Mom to show her what had happened. Ella jumped to her feet and went to the edge of a deep hollow. She saw Stream in the hollow, also weeping. He had fallen into the ravine while chasing butterflies.

Ella had to jump into the hollow, but she was wounded in the fall. Finally the mother used both her front paws to hold her son up and an Elephant used her long trunk to help the cub to safety.

2. Play-Fighting in the Water

Even after that mishap, play was still never far from the boy’s mind. Tiger Stream constantly asked his Mom to teach him how to swim. As Ella had been wounded in the last adventure, Tiger Bole had to lead their cubs out to swim. They came to a pond and Bole taught them how to breathe while in the water. The two cubs felt very excited to jump and dive.

After a while the cubs began play-fighting in the water. Tiger Stream was always fond of playing tricks on his sister and making her cry. He pulled her tail hard in the water and brought tears to his sister’s eyes again. Tiger Bole saw his daughter crying and wanted to teach his son a good lesson by taking a swipe at him, but Stream ran away at once to escape being cuffed.

At dusk, when Bole, Ella and Sis were having dinner, their son still hadn’t come back. The couple began to worry about him. Bole said to Ella, “I’ll go out and have a look. You just rock Sis to sleep after dinner.”

3. Another Adventure

Tiger Bole spent several hours looking for his son but didn’t find him. Bole had no idea where to look. Although Ella had stayed home, she couldn’t sleep either. When Sis fell asleep, Ella went out to look for her son herself.

The runaway Tiger Stream had met some stray kittens en route to nowhere. After greeting each other, they decided to go to one place next to the Tiger Gorge where there were plenty of high rocks to jump off. They would see who could jump higher and farther.

Losing contests was a bitter disappointment to Tiger Stream. So he kept jumping again and again — until he fell, trapped in a crack in a huge rock. The kittens tried to pull him out, but their efforts made him even more uncomfortable. Tiger Stream was so worried that he began to cry. At hearing her son’s crying, Ella responded to him at once. At the sight of Ella, all the kittens fled immediately.

Having saved Tiger Stream, Ella led her son back home. When they arrived, they found Bole and Sis asleep. Without interrupting them, Ella told her son to make little noise, and they soon fell asleep too.

4. A Garden Party

Several weeks later, a garden party was held in the kingdom. Every family in the kingdom was invited. One of the performances was that every cub was asked to seek and recognize its mom or dad by covering its eyes while their mom or dad hid nearby. In this hide-and-seek game, Panda Lin was the first one to reach and recognize her mom. Then all the moms or dads began to play roller-coaster with their cubs. The dangerous track was built out of their moms or dads, and the small trains were made of cubs. This game amused and excited the little ones most. Finally Squirrel Kaka led all the little ones in a drum dance.

Tiger Bole and Leopard Tola talked while they were watching. Bole asked, “Is it true that Tiger King Gel isn’t friendly with our animals next to the border?”

Tola replied, “I am not sure about this matter, but I am told that his daughter had some pillow fights with some cubs of ours.”

5. Natural Disasters

Another rainy season came, but it lasted much longer than before. Heavy rains continued for several weeks, causing flash floods and landslides in the mountains and a shortage of food in the kingdom. Tiger King Bole wished to seek help from his neighbor, Tiger King Gel. Thus, one day Tiger Bole led some followers, including his son Stream, across the border to the palace of Tiger King Gel.

Once they reached King Gel’s palace, Tiger King Gel didn’t listen to them; he mistook them for invaders and gathered his warriors to fight Tiger Bole and his followers. Tiger Gel and his fighters had no trouble in chasing away the visitors.

Tiger Bole was assailed with fierce blows to the head, and to protect his son from attack he and his followers had to back away from the hostile neighbors.

6. Seeking a New Life

Hard times were coming because of the severe weather that had caused floods and landslides. Hunting lessons were no longer fun but a matter of survival for Tiger Stream and his sister. Since their parents were getting older, Tiger Stream and his sister understood that they were old enough to depend on themselves. They left home and dispersed to seek their own fortunes.

After saying good-bye to his sister, Tiger Stream wanted to try his luck in entering Tiger King Gel’s territory again. As soon as Stream crossed the border, he saw two tigers pummelling each other fiercely, one female and one male. Next to them there was a dead tiger.

Without hesitation, Tiger Stream came to the female’s rescue and flew at the male. In a clawing fight, the male was defeated by Tiger Stream. The female was relieved to see her enemy run away. She then turned to the dead tiger and wept. From her words, Tiger Stream knew that the female was named Gil. She was Tiger King Gel’s daughter, and Gel had just been killed by the male tiger, called Nil.

7. Good Luck

Now that her father was dead, Gil felt no longer safe. She begged Tiger Stream to stay with her. Tiger Stream was gratified. He said, “It’s my pleasure to stay with you, but I should return to my home and tell my parents about it first.”

When Tiger Stream returned to tell his parents what had happened, Tiger Bole and Ella were very pleased, but for a while Ella looked sad. Stream asked, “What’s happened?”

Ella said, “Since your sister left home, we’ve never heard a word from her. How I want her to share the good news with us. And then she may go to live in your territory now.”

Thinking of his sister, Tiger Stream sighed. “I also wish she would come back to live with us.”

After Tiger Stream married Tiger Gil, Tiger Stream became the King in the territory of the former king Gel while his father Bole still governed his own territory. The two kings often visited and helped each other.

8. Tiger Stream Imperiled

One day, some bald eagles flew to the palace, bringing King Bole some news. “Your Majesty, King Stream is under attack from Tiger Nil and his gang.”

King Bole immediately decided to send some warriors to help his son. Queen Ella and Leopard Tola insisted that they should go with the warriors. Leopard Tola was appointed the chief to lead the group.

Crossing the border, the group saw some animals engaged in a ferocious battle. Ella saw her son knock out a white tiger, but a wolf came to the aid of the white tiger by leaping to attack her son.

Ella sprang to her feet with a roar. She jumped at the white tiger and his gangsters. The battle lasted several hours, resulting in heavy casualties.

9. A United Tiger Kingdom

Tiger Stream finally eked out a victory, but his mother was killed in the fighting. After the death of Ella, Tiger Stream was too saddened to govern his kingdom. Tiger King Bole had to help govern Stream’s kingdom, and he united them as one.

Leopard Tola had also been injured in the battle, and King Bole was very busy every day. One day while Tiger Bole was marking his united territory, a female tiger came into sight. How lovely the young tigress looked! Bole didn’t recognize her until she called him “Dad.” His daughter Sis had come back.

Tiger Bole’s spirits brightened the moment his daughter returned, but his son Stream was still troubled. Sis said to her brother, “You must recover from grief and take the throne one day. I think that is also what our Mom wished for you.” At his sister’s words, Tiger Stream’s heart, though still heavy, lightened a little.