Grandaunt Tigress III

The old woman was surprised by the question. She thought nothing could disturb the little girl's sleep. “Well,” she replied, “I'm eating peanuts.”

“I love peanuts,” said the little girl in the other room. “Would you give me some?” she asked.

Her grandaunt threw something to the girl from the room where she bedded down with the older girl. The younger child picked it up. Lo and behold, it's a section of a little finger! It wasn't a peanut. Scared to death, the little girl took to flight. The old woman heard the commotion. “Don't try to run,” she shouted. “You can't escape,” she said. “I've eaten up your sister, and I'm going to eat you tomorrow. There's no way you can get away.”

The grandaunt turned back into Grandaunt Tigress. She came into the little girl's room, caught her, and tied her hand and foot. The old tigress had already satisfied her appetite for the night. She wanted to eat the child the next thing in the morning. So the girl was left alone for the night.

The clever little girl tried to think how she could get out of the danger of being gobbled up by the tigress. She thought hard and came up with a good idea. She asked Grandaunt Tigress to let her go to release her nature in an outhouse. “No,” the old tigress said, “I won't let you do that. I know you're trying to flee.” “But I won't flee, Grandaunt,” the girl replied. “I'm ready to be eaten up. If you don't believe me, you can keep the other end of the rope that ties my body while I'm in the outhouse. You'll be sure I'm there. And I'll come out as soon as my nature is relieved.”

“Well, it makes sense,” Grandaunt Tigress told herself. “I can pull the rope, and if there's response from within the outhouse, I'll know she is there.” So, she let the girl go. Before she went out, however, the girl had filled a bucket with water, which she would carry to the outhouse, though her body was tied with a rope, one end of which was in the hands of the tigress. The moment she had entered the outhouse, the girl untied herself and bound the bucket with the rope.

The tigress didn't know what the child was doing in the outhouse, whose door she had closed behind her. The little girl made good her escape from the tiny window of the outhouse.

Grandaunt Tigress waited some time for the little girl to come out of the outhouse. The tigress became impatient. She tugged at the rope. Water spilled out of the bucket, making sound that convinced her of the girl making water. The tigress waited a little longer. But the girl didn't come out.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email