How the Tiger Got Its Stripes

Once upon a time, in a lush green forest in Vietnam, there lived a tiger. This tiger was not striped; he had a plain, golden fur coat. He was very strong and brave, but he was also quite proud of his looks.

One day, the tiger went to the river to drink water. While he was there, he saw a fish swimming. The tiger thought, 'I want to catch that fish!' So, he tried to pounce on the fish, but the clever fish jumped away and splashed water at the tiger.

Feeling embarrassed, the tiger roared loudly. Suddenly, a wise old turtle surfaced from the water and said, 'Dear tiger, if you want to catch that fish, you must use your brain, not just your muscles.'

The tiger, who thought he was very smart, wanted to show the turtle that he could catch the fish with a clever plan. The tiger came up with an idea: he would trick the fish! He asked the turtle for advice and the turtle suggested, 'Why not pretend to be sick? The fish will come to see if you are okay.'

The tiger thought this was a great idea, so he laid down on the riverbank and acted like he was hurt. The fish, thinking the tiger was really in trouble, swam closer to help. Just as the fish came near, the tiger jumped up to catch it. However, the fish was too quick and managed to escape!

But the tiger's jump resulted in a big splash of water. The water splashed all over him, and the magic of the river made stripes appear on his fur! The tiger looked in the reflection and saw that he now had beautiful black stripes on his golden coat.

At first, the tiger was surprised and didn’t know if he liked the stripes. But then he realized that the stripes made him look special and unique. The tiger learned to embrace his new look and felt proud of his stripes. From that day on, the tiger was known as the striped tiger, and he became the king of the jungle.

And so, that’s how the tiger got its stripes and learned an important lesson: sometimes, what makes you different can be your greatest strength!