Rabbit Gives a Gift to Tiger

Rabbit went fishing with Firefly. When he stole Firefly's fish, Firefly got angry and put out the light. 
In the dark, Rabbit lost his way. He ended up at Tiger's house.
"I smell fish!" Tiger growled, looking at Rabbit's basket.
Frightened, Rabbit lied, "I brought you a present!"
Then Rabbit ran.
Tiger and his wife ate fish for dinner and had some left over. To keep Rabbit from stealing back the fish, Tiger put a scorpion in the basket.
In the night, Tiger heard a scream. "OW!" It was Rabbit.
Tiger smiled. 
Rabbit never did get to eat his fish.



Inspired by: Folklore of the Antilles by Elsie Clews Parsons.
Notes: Parsons classifies this story as: 2. Sharing the Spoils. You can find it online at Hathi Trust. This story from Trinidad continues with another episode where Rabbit tries to steal Tiger's pig and Tiger catches him, but in the end Rabbit escapes.

 

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