The Peasant, the Buffalo, and the Tiger

FOCUS: Telling a story using Present Tense

A Vietnamese Folk Tale

Once upon a time, when the animals talked, a young peasant stopped working at noon. Under
a tall tree he takes out a ball of cooked rice, his lunch, wrapped in banana leaves.

Not far from him, a buffalo is eating grass, on roads in the rice fields. The buffalo comes and
lies down near some banana trees, chewing slowly, chasing insects with his tail. (At that time,
the buffalo had teeth on top and bottom, like all the animals.)

Suddenly, the big buffalo looks up: he thinks, “The wind smells like a wild, dangerous
animal!” He stands up on his legs and waits, looking around.

A tiger, the powerful king of the forests and mountains, comes out of a bush and walks up to
the buffalo.

He says, “ I don’t come as an enemy. I just want to ask you something. I see you every day
without you seeing me. Hiding in the bushes, I watch you and the peasant work together. How
does it work, that a man, this small thing with no strength, no good eyes, and no good nose,
can make you work for him? You are ten times bigger and have more power!”

“To tell the truth, I don’t know,” said the buffalo. “But, I can never be free from him. I only know
that he has a secret - he calls it ‘intelligence.’ But I don’t know what it is.”

“I must ask him to give me a little of this amazing thing!” said the tiger. “If I had this ‘intelligence,’
I can have power over all the other animals and it would be very convenient for me. I wouldn’t
have to wait for my food for hours, and then chase it into the forest! I can tell them, BE STILL!,
and, with no hard work, I can have lots of food. I can even choose the fat animals!”

“Ah, yes! Why don’t you go ask him for it?” the buffalo suggests.
The tiger goes to the man and sits down in front of him.

“Mr. Man, I am big, strong, and fast… but I want something more. I know you have something
called ‘intelligence’ and, thanks to it, you have power over the animals. Will you please give me
a little? Just a little! I really, really need it.” the tiger said.

“Excuse me, Mr. Tiger,” said the peasant, “I always leave it at home. Nobody ever brings it to
work in the fields, it’s very special. Also, I only have a little bit. I can’t give you any.”

But the tiger continues to ask, and the peasant says, at last, OK. The peasant says to the tiger,
“I must walk home to get it.”

“Can I come with you?” asks the tiger.

“It’s better you stay here. If you come to the village, all the people will be scared and will come
together to kill you. Wait here. I will go get what you want.”

After two or three steps, the peasant stops. He turns around, thinking hard.

“I’m a little worried,” the peasant said, “that if I go, maybe you will eat my buffalo. I need him for
my work. Who can pay for my dead buffalo?”

The tiger tries to tell him, “No! I will never eat your buffalo!” But the peasant is not sure.

“Welllll…..” he said, “if you say ok, I will tie you to this tree, and then I don’t have to worry about
it.”

The tiger says yes right away, because he really wants the ‘intelligence’ for himself. The tiger
knows that he is very smart, and very patient.

The peasant ties him to the tall tree with strong ropes, and then runs home.

He comes back with some dry wood. He puts it around the tree, close to the tiger, and sets it
on fire!
“There is my intelligence!” he shouts to the tiger. The fire is all around the tiger, and burning
him all over.

The wild cat roars. He says, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” The man is not listening. The man laughs
to see the tiger fight the fire.

The buffalo is watching this. He thinks it is so funny that he laughs hard, and his head hits a
rock. He breaks all his top teeth, and buffalo never have top teeth again.

The fire burns all the ropes, and the tiger jumps free. He roars in pain, and runs to the forest,
crying all the way. Soon, the fire went out, but tigers - even today - still have the black burn
marks on their orange coats.

The Peasant, the Buffalo, and the Tiger

Vocabulary Exercise

Directions:
1. Find the words you don’t know and define them. Use a dictionary.
2. Read the story again.
3. Draw the story in the boxes.

ENGLISH Part of Speech VN

field noun
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NAME: __________/100
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