A robber and an alms-begging monk were pursuing their way together when a tiger suddenly appeared from nowhere and pounced upon them. The robber immediately drew a bow. The tiger, however, was not afraid and kept closing in on them. As a last resort, the monk threw his alms book at the tiger, which immediately fell back with fright and beat a hasty retreat.

“Pa,” asked the tiger cub of its father, “How come you were not afraid of the robber and yet the monk gave you such a good scare?”

“Well,” replied the tiger, “when the robber came up, I was prepared to wrestle with him. But when the monk wanted to beg alms from me, how was I going to buddle him off?”