The Lady Or The Tiger And Other Stories [Hardcover]

Frank R. Stockton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2005

1887. Thonias Hewlings Stockton, clergyman, wrote fantastic tales for children under the pen name Frank R. Stockton. He also wrote books for adults. Among his amusing books for children Rudder Grange is the best known. The Lady and the Tiger is one of his most popular works. Contents: The Lady, or the Tiger?; The Transferred Ghost; The Spectral Mortgage; Our Archery Club; That Same Old 'Coon; His Wife's Deceased Sister; Our Story; Mr. Tolman; On the Training of Parents; Our Fire-Screen; A Piece of Red Calico; and Every Man His Own Letter-Writer. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Editorial Reviews

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The Lady or The Tiger and Other Stories

The Lady, or the Tiger?

IN THE very olden time there lived a semibarbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and untrammelled, as became the half of him which was barbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing; and when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done. When every member of his domestic and political systems moved smoothly in its appointed course, his nature was bland and genial; but whenever there was a little hitch, and some of his orbs got out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight, and crush down uneven places.

Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarismhad become semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined and cultured.

But even here the exuberant and barbaric fancy asserted itself. The arena of the king was built not to give the people an opportunity of hearing the rhapsodies of dying gladiators, nor to enable them to view the inevitable conclusion of a conflict between religious opinions and hungry jaws, but for purposes far better adapted to widen and develop the mental energies of the people. This vast amphitheatre, with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance.

When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king, public notice was given that on an appointed day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king's arena--a structure which well deserved its name; for, although its form and plan were borrowed from afar, its purpose emanated solely from the brain of this man, who, every barleycorn a king, knew no tradition to which he owed more allegiance than pleased his fancy, and who ingrafted on every adopted form of human thought and action the rich growth of his barbaric idealism.

When all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheatre. Directly opposite him, on the other side of the enclosed space, were two doors,exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open either door he pleased: he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the afore-mentioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which immediately sprang upon him and tore him to pieces, as a punishment for his guilt. The moment that the case of the criminal was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great wails went up from the hired mourners posted on the outer rim of the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have merited so dire a fate.

But if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his Majesty could select among his fair subjects; and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. It mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own selection: the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. The exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and in the arena. Another door opened beneath the king, and a priest, followed by a band of choristers, and dancing maidens blowing joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure, advanced to where the pair stood side by side; and the wedding was promptly and cheerily solemnized. Then the gay brass bells rang forth their merry peals, the people shouted glad hurrahs, andthe innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his path, led his bride to his home.

This was the king's semibarbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could not know out of which door would come the lady: he opened either he pleased, without having the slightest idea whether, in the next instant, he was to be devoured or married. On some occasions the tiger came out of one door, and on some out of the other. The decisions of this tribunal were not only fair, they were positively determinate: the accused person was instantly punished if he found himself guilty; and if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot, whether he liked it or not. There was no escape from the judgments of the king's arena.

The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of the great trial-days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding. This element of uncertainty lent an interest to the occasion which it could not otherwise have attained. Thus the masses were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the community could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan; for did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own hands?

This semibarbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own. As is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and was loved by him above all humanity. Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens. This royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this kingdom; and she loved him with an ardor thathad enough of barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love-affair moved on happily for many months, until one day the king happened to discover its existence. He did not hesitate nor waver in regard to his duty in the premises. The youth was immediately cast into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the king's arena. This, of course, was an especially important occasion; and his Majesty, as well as all the people, were greatly interested in the workings and development of this trial. Never before had such a case occurred; never before had a subject dared to love the daughter of a king. In afteryears such things became commonplace enough; but then they were, in no slight degree, novel and startling.

The tiger-cages of the kingdom were searched for the most savage and relentless beasts, from which the fiercest monster might be selected for the arena; and the ranks of maiden youth and beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by competent judges, in order that the young man might have a fitting bride in case fate did not determine for him a different destiny. Of course everybody knew that the deed with which the accused was charged had been done. He had loved the princess, and neither he, she, nor any one else thought of denying the fact; but the king would not think of allowing any fact of this kind to interfere with the workings of the tribunal, in which he took such great delight and satisfaction. No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be disposed of; and the king would take an æsthetic pleasure in watching the course of events, which would determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in allowing himself to love the princess.

The appointed day arrived. From far and near thepeople gathered, and thronged the great galleries of the arena; and crowds, unable to gain admittance, massed themselves against its outside walls. The king and his court were in their places, opposite the twin doors--those fateful portals, so terrible in their similarity.

All was ready. The signal was given. A door beneath the royal party opened, and the lover of the princess walked into the arena. Tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum of admiration and anxiety. Half the audience had not known so grand a youth had lived among them. No wonder the princess loved him! What a terrible thing for him to be there!

As the youth advanced into the arena, he turned, as the custom was, to bow to the king: but he did not think at all of that royal personage; his eyes were fixed upon the princess, who sat to the right of her father. Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probable that lady would not have been there; but her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an occasion in which she was so terribly interested. From the moment that the decree had gone forth that her lover should decide his fate in the king's arena, she had thought of nothing, night or day, but this great event and the various subjects connected with it. Possessed of more power, influence, and force of character than any one who had ever before been interested in such a case, she had done what no other person had done--she had possessed herself of the secret of the doors. She knew in which of the two rooms that lay behind those doors stood the cage of the tiger, with its open front, and in which waited the lady. Through these thick doors, heavily curtained with skins on the inside, it was impossible that any noise or suggestion shouldcome from within to the person who should approach to raise the latch of one of them; but gold, and the power of a woman's will, had brought the secret to the princess.

And not only did she know in ...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (June 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1432605208
• ISBN-13: 978-1432605209
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,524,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Perspective, July 28, 2001

By 

Diana-lynn Roston (Los angeles,CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lady or the Tiger and Other Short Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

While not all of the stories in this book count as great literature by today's standards (although some certainly do), the title story in this collection is seriously thought provoking. Some of the best discussions in my 8th grade English class were spurred on by "The Lady or the Tiger," which is an excellent story to use to further the development of critical thinking skills. It also serves as a literary Rorshach test, promoting self exploration and evaluation. Frank Stockton obviously respected children's ability to think for themselves, and his appreciation for the intelligence of the young clearly comes through in these stories. I enjoyed reading this one when I was a teenager, and love passing it on to my students. If somehow, you have missed reading this, I highly recommend it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun collection of fantastic imaginative stories., July 7, 2003

By 

Matthew McCann "Skylerdragon" (Festus, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady or the Tiger and Other Short Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

I regret waiting until I was 31 to read this gem. It appears this book has been well read and well recognized the world over for some reason or other. I never have heard of it until I picked it up in a second hand book store. I sure am glad I did.
Stockton wrote in the late 1800s to early 1900s. His works, mostly fiction, tell stories of the oddest occurences and strangest events. However, they are amusing and linger in the readers mind and heart, making his writing resilient.
I haven't shared these stories with my students yet, but I certainly plan on doing so. The title story and it's sequel are great reads, but I also found The Griffon and the Minor Canon to be just as entertaining. Our Archery Club will also stick with me for a long time to come.
Stockton's style is excellent. He creates complex plots surrounding profound paradox and irony. This is appealing for its witty impact and satirical humor. His characters are genuine, colorful and memorable.
Stockton also demands a little more than an attentive audience with his readers. He penned interactive literature with the title story and its sequel, but also demands that listeners or readers be thinkers. He tends to tuck moral and ethical principles in his stories as well, but this does not make them preachy in any way.
The copy I have is an older publication of this mass market paperback edition. I would like to find a collection of Stockton's stories in an anthology, but I'm not sure one exists. I believe that everybody should read Stockton's work and that he should be remembered as one of America's best authors of adolescent literature.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars do read this before you die., December 20, 1997

By 

stephen w. brandt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady or the Tiger and Other Short Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

this is great piece of american literature that is too often overlooked. i've read that 'the lady or the tiger' was the birth of the mystery novel - i'm not sure if that's true, but does take an analytical look at human nature that's far ahead of its time (even though it's a bit 'flat' by today's standards). i find the sequel, 'the discourager of hesitantcy' even more interesting with a much more structured narrative.