The Princess and the Tiger - a True Fabel

Once upon a time, in a majestic kingdom, far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess.  The princess wore a royal blue sari with gold trim, and was covered in jewels of every shape, color and size.  She was said to be one of the most desirable princesses of the land and had many suitors visit to ask for her hand in marriage.  But, the princess had not found the Prince with whom her heart and soul clicked and so she was very lonely.  As a way to ease her pain, she walked down to the beach each day to watch the magnificent sunset, for that was one of the things that made her heart sing and brought pure joy to her being. 

One day, as she was sitting and watching the sunset, a tiger appeared from the jungle.  This tiger was a magnificent creature, beautiful bright white, with perfectly painted-on black stripes.  He was strong and surefooted, each muscle of his body in perfect harmony, and he had the most amazing, piercing bright, blue eyes.  The princess was stunned by his beauty and his being.  And then she realized, she had a difficult decision to make.  She could either run and let the Tiger chase and kill her or she could sit still and let the Tiger pounce and kill her.  Either way, the Tiger was surely going to kill the Princess.  Instead, the Princess decided to find a third way, she simply did not do anything.  She made no decision.  She just sat in the moment and recognized the perfection of this moment with the perfect sunset, the magnificent Tiger, and her imperfect perfect humanity.  The Tiger slowly approached the Princess and with each step, she maintained eye contact, and simply was in the moment.  The Tiger came close to the Princess and sat down next to her, also staring at the setting sun.  This went on for weeks and months. 

Each night, the Princess went down to the beach to watch the Sunset, and most nights, the Tiger joined her and sat next to her.  The Tiger did not speak Princess, and the Princess did not speak Tiger, but in a short time, the energy between them had swirled and created a language that the both of them perfectly understood.  In time, the Princess and the Tiger both started wishing for more than the daily sunsets.  The Tiger wanted the Princess to run away with him deep into the Jungle where he would take her to his lair.  The Princess wanted to Tiger to dance with her at the Palace in front of her family and friends.  They started sharing these dreams with one another and each evening they both raced down to the beach, no longer to watch the sunsets, but instead to teach the other more about their worlds. 

The Tiger taught the Princess how to run in the jungle.  And, the Princess loved it!  She felt free and powerful.  But, as they continued to run, sometimes the Tiger would slip out of sight for a moment, and the Princess was terrified with a deep loneliness that can only come from being completely lost and out of your element.  As time went on, the Tiger left the Princess for longer and longer, for after all, the Princess would have to learn how to survive in the Jungle to live with him in his lair.  But, when the Tiger saw the pure fear in the Princess’ eyes, he stopped leaving her alone, and soon, they stopped running in the jungle all together.  But, the Princess had changed forever.  She was no longer the same caged up young woman, she was someone who had run in the jungles and this transferred to her daily life at the Palace.

The Princess rushed to the beach to teach the Tiger to dance.  She would help him get on his hind legs and puts his paws around her.  This was very difficult for the Tiger, but he always tried because he saw how much it meant to the Princess.  But, each time, he took a misstep he would end up hurting the Princess with a little scratch here or a little scratch there.  One time, he fell on top of the Princess and was fearful he would crush her.  The Princess saw how hard the Tiger was trying to learn to dance, but no matter how much they practiced, he could never quite get the rhythm down to the song in her head.  For no matter how the Tiger tried, he could not change the fact that at any moment, one misstep from him could hurt the Princess forever.  Soon, they stopped dancing at all.  But the experience had changed the Tiger, he had learned the beauty of a moment when two bodies come in synch to the perfect melody of the Universe, and this began to change how he saw the world.

They both tried to find ways to make their dream, their wish, their hope of staying together eternally come true, but as each did, they started changing the nature of the other.  The Tiger knew the Princess’ favorite game, and built her a place to play it in his lair, but the Princess had grown fearful of the jungle and could not enter far enough to reach it.  The Princess knew the Tiger’s favorite colors, and used those to build him the most beautiful, palatial cage.  But each time the Tiger entered it, a bit of his soul died and the Princess could not stand to see that pain in his eyes.  See, a Princess is not meant to live in the jungle.  And the Tiger would be shot on sight in the palace, for no King wants his daughter to spend time with a Tiger that could kill her at any moment.  So, in time, the Tiger and the Princess realized, that it was insane to change or cage the other, but that where they were both the happiest, was in their blissful moments together, each night, watching the sunset.  So, instead of running in the jungle or learning to dance, the Princess and the Tiger began meeting again daily and sitting quietly watching the sunset together.  And, again, their love swirled around them and their communication flowed as it had before, without any words or explanation.

And the Princess knew, that one day, the Tiger may not come watch the Sunset with her anymore.  And, the Tiger knew, that one day the Princess may get married and move to another kingdom far away.  But, both the Tiger and the Princess knew, that nothing could ever change the beauty of those days and moments, where they came together to watch the sunset.  And, if either of them ever felt lonely, or sad, all they had to do was to think of that beautiful moment and know that the other was thinking of them too and loving them.  The Princess and the Tiger had to meet, and spend time together.  That was the only way that they could transform and co-create the magical green flash of the sunset.  Each sunset, the Tiger brought the red, orange and yellow.  And the Process brought the purple, white, and blue.  And, when they watch it together, their love swirls and creates the green flash, right before the sun leaves the horizon.

One time, the Princess asked the Tiger, “why didn’t you kill me that first day you saw me?”.  The Tiger replied, “I live in the moment.  And, in that moment, all I wanted to do was to sit next to you and watch the sunset.”  The Tiger then asked the Princess why she had not run when she first saw him walk towards her.  The Princess replied, “I was certain I was about to die, and all I wanted to do before I tasted death was to experience a moment of life.  And, even if that experience was you killing me, I knew it would be a magnificent and beautiful experience.”

At the end of the day, it matters little if a Tiger and Princess fall in love with each other.  What matters more is the recognition that love, once created, is never destroyed.  And, that returning to that love, is a simple as remembering the sunsets together.

With the creative instruction of Laurette DeJulian and Michael.

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