10/02/2026
The Brâhmiṇ Girl that Married a Tiger
This story is told to explain the Tamil proverb, “Śummâ irukkiraya, śuruvattai kâṭṭaṭṭuma,” (Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape.)
In a village lived an old Brâhmiṇ who had three sons and a daughter. The girl was most tender hearted and fell in love with every beautiful soul she encountered. Near the village lived a fierce tiger, proficient in the power to take different forms. Having a great taste for Brâhmiṇ food. The tiger wanted, a Brâhmiṇ wife to cook his meals.
One day, he heard about the Brâhmiṇ girl who was always falling in love with every beautiful person. Said he to himself, “I shall assume the shape of a beautiful Brâhmiṇ boy, and win the heart of the Brâhmiṇ daughter.”
He became the form of a great Śâstrin (proficient in the Râmâyaṇa) and took his seat near the the sacred river of the village. The girl came to bathe at the river, and fell in love with him immediately.
They were married the very next day. Feasts followed for a month, during which time the bridegroom gave every satisfaction to his new relatives and wife. After a time he said, “I must take my wife to her future home and promise she is well taken care of.”
The old Brâhmiṇ agreed, "you are her husband, and she is yours. We take you to be everything you claim to be and treat her kindly.”
The mother of the bride spent the day preparing cakes and sweet meats to place in her bundles. The relatives of the bride requested her husband to allow her to rest wherever she found shade, and to eat wherever she found water, and to this he agreed, and so they began their journey.
The tiger and his human wife pursued for two or three days in pleasant conversation, when the girl happened to see a pond, round which the birds were warbling their sweet notes. She requested to partake of some of the cakes and sweetmeats. But he replied, “Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape.”
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This story is told to explain the Tamil proverb, “Śummâ irukkiraya, śuruvattai kâṭṭaṭṭuma,” (Be quiet, or I shall show you my original shape