The Tiger and the Gotgam

Far away in Korea there was a little village. Behind the village stood a big, blue mountain. On the mountain lived a tiger. The tiger was big and striped. His paws were soft as snow. His teeth were white as ice. All the animals in the forest were afraid of him. Even the stones trembled when he walked by.

It was a cold winter evening. The snow fell soft and white over the village. The tiger was hungry. His belly rumbled. 'I must find something to eat,' thought the tiger. He crept down from the mountain on his soft paws. He stopped at the edge of the village. A little lamp glowed in a window. Inside, he heard a sound.

From inside the house came the sound of a child crying. 'Wah-ah! Wah-ah!' The little baby was crying loudly. The tiger listened carefully. His ears pricked up. 'A little baby,' he whispered to himself. 'Babies are small and tender. That will be a fine supper.' He crept quietly closer to the window. The snow creaked just a little under his paws.

Inside the house, a mother sat with her baby in her lap. The baby would not stop crying. The mother rocked and rocked. She sang a little song. But the baby cried even more. Then the mother said, 'Hush, little one. A fox is coming to bite you!' The tiger outside the window frowned. 'A fox?' he thought. 'Who is afraid of a fox?'

The baby kept crying. 'Wah-ah! Wah-ah!' The mother tried again. 'Hush, little one. A bear is coming to growl at you!' But the baby did not care at all. He just cried and cried. The tiger outside tilted his head. 'A bear?' he thought. 'Is this baby not afraid of bears?' The tiger grew more and more puzzled. 'What a brave little child,' he whispered.

The tiger grew almost a little cross. 'No animal scares this baby,' he thought. 'Then I will show him who is most dangerous.' He stood up tall outside the window. His striped back rose high and straight. Just then the mother said in a big voice, 'Hush, little one! A tiger is coming down from the mountain!' The tiger smiled wide. 'Aha, now the baby will be afraid,' he thought. He tensed himself, ready to leap in.