Old White Whiskers and Mr. Bunny

Deep in the mountains of Korea lived a huge, proud tiger everyone called Old White Whiskers.He had fiery eyes, sharp claws, and the widest stripes of any tiger in the land.Villagers were so afraid of him that they left food and gifts at his shrine every day.

For years Old White Whiskers had eaten pigs, calves, and even a hunter or two, and he had never once been caught.He grew so confident that he began to think no creature could ever outsmart him.But a small, clever rabbit who lived near the river was about to prove him wrong.

One freezing winter day, Mr. Bunny was crossing the icy river, hungry and tired, when Old White Whiskers leaped out from behind a rock."I'm hungry," growled the tiger. "I shall eat you up at once.""Why bother with a skinny rabbit like me?" said Mr. Bunny calmly. "Let me drive a whole herd of animals to your paws instead."

The tiger's mouth watered at the thought of a much bigger dinner, and he agreed to do exactly as the rabbit said."Lie down right here on the ice and close your eyes tightly," Mr. Bunny told him. "Don't open them until I say so, or the magic will fail."Tired from a long day of hunting, Old White Whiskers lay down and quickly fell fast asleep.

Mr. Bunny quietly gathered armfuls of dry grass and piled it in a thick ring all around the sleeping tiger.Then he set the grass on fire and scampered far up the hill to watch.The crackling flames woke Old White Whiskers, who had to leap wildly through the fire just to save his own life.

His fur was singed, one paw was burned, and he limped all the way home in pain.When the other tigers saw him, they laughed, and the Mountain Spirit no longer trusted him with any important task.From that day on, everyone in the mountains knew that even the proudest tiger could be outwitted by a clever little rabbit.