“It isn’t fair that he should sleep so nicely when I have to stay awake!” grumbled Tamba. “He can dream of the good times he had when he ran away and had adventures, and all I can think of is how much I want to go back to my jungle! It isn’t fair! I’m going to make Nero wake up! I’ll play a trick on him!”
Of course this wasn’t right for Tamba to do, but circus tigers don’t always do right any more than boys, girls, or other animals.
Tamba’s cage was next to that of Nero, and close beside it, instead of being at one end. The cages were left that way when they were brought in from the larger performing tent, after the animals had done their tricks. So it happened that Tamba could look out through the bars of his cage in between the bars where Nero was kept. And Tamba could stick his paws out through the bars, but he could not quite reach over to the sleeping lion.
“If I could reach him,” said Tamba to himself, “I’d tickle him and wake him up. I wouldn’t let him sleep!”
But Tamba’s paws were not quite long enough to reach through the bars of the two cages. Again and again the tiger tried it, but he could not manage.
Then Tamba sat down on his haunches and looked at the sleeping Nero. At last a tricky idea came to Tamba.
“Ha!” exclaimed the tiger. “If I can’t reach him with my paws I can reach him with my tail! That’s what I’ll do! I’ll reach in between the bars with my long, slender tail, and I’ll tickle Nero on the nose!”
Tamba sort of laughed to himself as he thought of this trick. And he had no sooner thought of it than he began to try it. He turned about, so his back was toward Nero. Standing thus, Tamba’s long, slender tail easily reached into Nero’s cage. Nearer and nearer the tip of Tamba’s tail came to the big black nose of the sleeping lion.
Tamba looked sideways over his back to see where to put his tail. At last the fuzzy tip-end of it touched Nero’s nose and tickled it. The big lion twitched in his sleep, just as your cat does, if you lightly touch one of her ears.