"I'll divide the fish," said Tiger. "Big for me; little for you."
Firefly got angry and put out his light, but then Tiger grabbed all the fish and stumbled home in the dark.
Firefly asked Rabbit for help. "Don't worry," Rabbit said. "Son, go tell Tiger I've got a pig to give him."
Rabbit's son delivered the message, and Tiger ran to fetch the pig.
Rabbit's son delivered the message, and Tiger ran to fetch the pig.
"That's crazy-talk," Rabbit told him. "No pigs here!"
Meanwhile, Rabbit's son and Firefly stole Tiger's fish-basket and split the fish, even-steven.
Inspired by: Young Brer Rabbit and Other Trickster Tales from the Americas by Jaqueline Shachter Weiss.
Inspired by: Young Brer Rabbit and Other Trickster Tales from the Americas by Jaqueline Shachter Weiss.
Notes: This story is on p. 45: "Fish and Syrup." Weiss notes that the story comes from Martinique. The first half is about the fish, and in the second half, Rabbit tricks Tiger out of the syrup. In Parsons' stories from the Antilles, she has a version with Elephant instead of Tiger which she collected in Martinique also, and she remarks: "There is a quite definite pattern in this tale, but I have found no parallels." She would have liked this story about Tiger!
Tiger should have known better than to trust any relative of Rabbit, least of all his cunning son.
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