There was once a tiger who, although he was big and strong, had never learnt to walk quietly and carefully, so he was never able to catch any animals to eat, because they always heard him before he got near them. 'I shall soon die if I cannot catch anything to eat,' he thought.
Then he remembered his cousin, the cat. Although as was much smaller, she was a clever hunter, so he went to her and said, 'If you teach me how to hunt, I will be your servant for three years.'
He persuaded the cat to become his teacher, and the tiger began to clean the cat's house and prepare her meals and obediently do everything that she wanted. He also went everywhere with her and learnt how to hunt. After some time the cat became jealous of the tiger. 'He is a very good pupil,' she thought. 'If I teach him everything, I believe he will become a better hunter than I am, because he is bigger and stronger.' So the cat did not teach the tiger one important thing.
When the three years ended, the tiger said to the cat, 'Have I learned everything now?'
'Yes,' answered the cat, but she was not being truthful.
The tiger now began to hunt by himself, but the animals still knew when he was coming and ran away. He was very disappointed, but at last he realized that when he was excited, he hit the ground with his tail, and the animals heard this and ran away.
The tiger was angry. 'Why did the cat not teach me that?' he said. He went to the judge, and accused the cat. The judge said, 'Because the cat lied to the tiger and did not teach him everything, as she had promised, she must pay the tiger's waged for the three years during which the tiger worked for her.'