The purpose of Wonderfully Short Wednesdays is to review short stories; it is as simple as that. Short stories are a very special medium of storytelling that I don't read enough of, and I hope that this encourages me and others to read more of them.The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank Stockton
I really enjoyed this short story; it makes you question concepts of justice and human nature in general and it is successful in doing so.
The story is that of a barbaric king in a faraway land, who has developed a system of justice to deal with the 'criminals' in his kingdom. They are placed in a big arena on Trial Day, and often much of the kingdom turns out to watch. They are given the option of choosing two doors. Behind one door is a hungry tiger, that will eat the individual who opens the door. Once this door is opened, the accused is found guilty of the offence. In the other door is a beautiful young maiden, and if this door is opened, the accused is pronounced guilty and is promptly married to the maiden, whether they want to be or not.
The story takes an unhappy turn when the king catches his own daughter having an affair with a member of his household staff and the King gives the young man the choice - the lady or the tiger.
At the end of the story, the young princess is left with a moral dilemma, which door does she help her lover to choose?
For me there were two great things about this story. The first was the King's concept of justice - if guilty the person would be eaten. If innocent, they would be married to a beautiful young maiden. What is interesting about this as justice is that it is completely a random choice that finds the person guilty or innocent. A lot of things in life come down to chance, and it is interesting to think that justice could come down to chance as well. I am a criminal solicitor, and I see that sometimes what penalty a person gets depends upon what Magistrate is making the decision. Is this justice? Or is it chance? It's also noteworthy that even if a person is found innocent the result could still be a punishment. The accused may be in love with someone else before they marry the maiden, they might even already be married and have a family. It makes me think of some of my clients who are found not guilty of offences, but they have already been punished in a way, by having to go through months of court procedures and a hearing.
The second great thing about this story is the choice the young princess has to make at the end. Does she save her lover from death and tell him which door the maiden is behind, or does she make the selfish choice and let her lover die rather than see him married to someone other than her? Obviously in this world we are not going to face quite the same quandary, but we are often faced with the problem of making selfish or selfless or choices in life and sometimes it's not as easy a decision to make as it should be.
I very much recommend this story to everyone. It makes you think.
Originally posted 10 February 2010 Page Turners
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