"I want more wisdom!" Rabbit said to God.
"Bring me Tiger's tears," God replied. "Then I'll show you wisdom."
Rabbit got some paper and wrote on it with charcoal. Then he went to Tiger. "Message for you from God!" he said.
"You know I can't read," said Tiger. "Read it for me!"
"Message says: HURRICANE COMING."
"Oh no!" shouted Tiger. "Tie me to the tree before the winds come, Rabbit! Tie me!"
Rabbit tied Tiger and then beat Tiger so hard Tiger cried.
After collecting Tiger's tears, he thanked Tiger, and then hopped back to God to claim his reward.
Inspired by: Folklore of the Antilles by Elsie Clews Parsons.
Notes: Parsons collected this story in Trinidad; you can find it online at Hathi Trust; she indexes it as: 1. Rabbit Seeks Endowments. This is just part of the story. In the first part, Rabbit tricks wasps into getting into a gourd (pretending he has a bet with someone who says the wasps cannot get into the gourd). For the final part of the story, see: Box of Wisdom.
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