Mat Jambol and the tiger story

Mat Jambol and the tiger story
Folktale from Singapore

One day, as Mat Jambol was mending his fishing nets, he saw a man running across the field towards him.
Folktale from Singapore

“Mat, come quickly” cried the man. “a tiger has eaten my chickens and killed my goat.”

Mat Jambol ran back across the field with the farmer. when they got to the farmer’s house, he looked carefully at the ground. The tigers’s track led to a small clearing in the forest not far from the farm. In the grass were chicken feathers and some bones.
Folktale from Singapore

“The tiger brought your
goat and chicken here to eat them,” said Mat Jambol. “I will build a trap for him,”
Folktale from Singapore

Cutting some bamboo, Mat Jambol made
long sharp stakes. These he pushed into the ground under a tree near the farmer’s house. When the bamboo stakes were pushed firmly into the ground. Mat Jambol covered them with some green leaves, tree branches and grass. Then he hung a dead goat from the tree. He covered the goat’s body with oil, and then walked home across the field.
Folktale from Singapore

That night, the moon was full and the hungry tiger come to the farm to look for food. As soon as he reached the farmyard he smelled the goat. “That stupid farmer has left his food outside,” thought the tiger as he followed the scent of the goat.
Folktale from Singapore

The farmer and his family were looking through the cracks of their house, watching the tiger in the moonlight. Suddenly the tiger leapt at the goat hanging from the tree. His orange and black body gleamed in the moonlight, for he was a very handsome tiger. The tiger caught the goat between his paw, and for a moment, it looked as if the farmer would lose another goat. But the goat’s body was slippery, so slippery that even the tiger couldn’t hold it. With a roar the tiger slid to the ground, and there he fell on Mat Jambol’s sharp bamboo stakes. The stakes went right through the tiger’s body. He died with a terrible scream.
Folktale from Singapore

The farmer and his family ran out of their house to look at the tiger. “Thanks to Mat Jambol, he won’t bother us again,” said the farmer.
Folktale from Singapore

The following day, Mat Jambol helped the farmer throw the tiger’s body into the sea.

“we must repay you for this kindness,” said the farmer. “Why don’t you come to dinner tonight?”

“I’ve got to repair my nets,” said Mat Jambol. “maybe some other time. But remember, you don’t owe me anything. I’m always happy to help a friend.”
Folktale from Singapore

The farmer went home. Happy that his chickens and goats would be now safe, and grateful that he had such a clever friend as Mat Jambol.