THE LADY OF NIGER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 209, 3 September 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE LADY OF NIGER.

{Copied by -Harold Burnett, 9, Kingslancl Terrace, Klngsland.) There was a young lady of Niger, Who went for a ride on a tiger, etc. It seems so cruel to take a lady for a ride and then, treat her as the verse lints that she was treated. No girls can believe it, but most ; boys repeat those Hues. even.in the presence of the. tiger himself. No wonder that he looke savage and snarls-. Call a tiger a bad name, and he > will never be the same. One day a certain tjger became eo angry that he spoke to sonie boys who were near to his cage. "Would you mind repeating thoee lines again," he eaid, in such a way that the boys were a little alarmed, but the boldest of them began: '•There was a young lady of Niger—" "Almost right," said the tiger. ?*But it was not Niger, which is only chosen because of the rhyme. It wa«s really somewhere in Bengal, which does not rhyme, and it was ever so many years ago. Prowl on!"' "Who went for -a ride on a tiger"— the boy proceeded. "So she did," answered the tiger. "She finished her rider—-" the boy added. "Of course * she did," the tiger said with a scornful growl, "if not, she would be riding still." "In the—" the boy began, "Wrong! Wrong!" growled the tiger, so fiercely that the boys ran away, and only came back when they remembered that the tiger was in a cage. "Oh, what a cruel story!" cried the tiger. "Year after year it casts a stain upon my race. They tell pretty little anecdotes of the lion and—by the way do you hate elephants'/" "Xo," they cried. '•Then 1 do," eaid the tiger, "they let men use them to hunt us. We might not be here but for the. elephant. Traitor to the jungle! But—let me see, what was I saying V "Something about the nice things said of lions was the reply. 'Tes," he resumed, "I remember. But no one ever tells pretty stories of tigers. ;Why? Because of that lady of Niger. Cruel!" "Do tell us the .real etory," cried the boys. Then he began: "In an ancient kingdom in.the North of India there live'd once upon a time a king who Almost always had his own ■way; when he did not he put the' offender in", his prison, which was also lie zoo. But what was bis anger when, his own beautiful daughter announced to him that she loved the Prince of. Kohinoor, who lived four jungles -away, lie is too poor/ ■ said the king, 'my daughter ■ hall never wed a beggar. Sit down, wilful girl, write to him and tell him that he shall never sec your f&ce again.' "'No, father,' «he replied, *much as I lotd you I cannot be false to my love.' j '"So, ho!' exclaimed the king, 'here is • pretty kettle of fish. To prison with you. None shall epeak to you, and you shall know what it means to disobey your king. Selfish girl!' \ "In the bea,utiful zdological gardens was the royal prieom The prisoner was allowed for one hour to walk around, the cages. In one of these was One of the noblest family of beasts—the tiger., He was the tiger of the story. Picture him very mufch like me. One evening the lady ■Was very quietly weeping, little thinking that the tiger watched her. At last he cried, 'Why weep, fair lady? , : "She made answer: 'Jly father wfll not let me wed the Prince of Kohinoor. If only I could escape!'

" 'Why not ?' asked the tiger. '"Because I am a -prisoner,' she said eimply. "'Has the keeper left tfre' key .outside my cage?' asked the noble beftet. " 'Yes/ she said. "'Then if you "will set ine_ free, together we may cross tlie four jungles and both of us be frefe!' " 'But the gatee are closed,' she answered. '"The kcwper gdefi but to-night at 10 o'clock,' eaid the tiger, 'to his home. That will be our time/ "At nightfall the lady returned and eet the tiger free. Together they stole to the gate, keeping in the shadows of the bushes. The keeper came, the gate swung back for a moment, the tiger leaped, the lady clung fa»t to the tiger, and in a second they were free. "The keeper gave the alarm; torches Vere taken; elephants aroused and the tiger and the lady had to go very quietly, and they did not quite cover one jungle that night. "When day came the tiger moved through the grass and could scarcely bte observed: the stripes of orange and the dark of .his skm made it very hard to gee him. Once or twice they were nearly

I caught, and as they raced over one clearing they were observed fay the king, " 'She has gone for a ride on a tiger,' he cried. "But every danger was passed; and as evening fell they saw the lights off Koliinoor; the time came for them to part. "'I shall never forget you,' said the lady. ' '"Who gains meet?' he asked, V Oll win a lover, and I win the jungle with its freedom and its fights arid its perils.'. " 1 think I gain the most,' said the lady. "She went alone into the city, and all the hells rang out when it Was known that the Lady of Niger had come in so wonderful a way. "But the king of Niger wept very i much when he thought his daughter had fallen -9, victim to the tiger, and he wept ] still more when he heard that she was married to the prince. In hie anger he. determined to conceal the truth, and he it was who wrote the cruel verse. It has gone too far to be stopped. Of course the real, ending is either: 'She finished her ride a radiant bride,' or 'She finished her ride by her true lover's side, and a smile on the face of the. tiger.' I have spoken.'* The boys listened politely, but they never believed that tiger. They looked up their atlases and natural histories, and they could find nothing impossible though much that was wonderful in the story, but they still repeated tli? old version. But surely the tiger's story is nicer.