I had intended to post a regular chapter this week, but I have some plotting issues to work through first. Instead, I offer you a story that I imagine John tells his children when he's at home. It's a different style than I usually use; John always did admire Kipling.

Interlude Four: The Allegory of the Tigress

"How the Tigress Got in the Cage"
for Mary
written down by John G. Ashfield, 1930

Once upon a time, there was a Tigress, and she was both beautiful and deadly. She lived in the jungle with all the other tigers and tigresses and all the other animals, and they were all quite happy, for the jungle was safe and dark and protected them from the dangers of the wide, open plains that surrounded it. Everyone knew that Man lived on the plains, and he was a dangerous sort and not to be trifled with, so no one went to the Edge unless they really, really had to.

You will remember, my Dearest, that I told you the tale of How the Tigress Met Monkey, so of course you will remember that Monkey was the Tigress's best and closest friend. They were an odd pair, indeed, with Monkey all bouncy and chatty and the Tigress all slinky and quiet, but they were very happy with their differences and no one teased them because everyone got along splendidly.

But such things cannot last forever, my Dearest. One day, a group of Elephants came up from the Edge and called together all the animals, and everything was serious and still (for Elephants themselves are very serious creatures).

"Listen to me," said the oldest and wisest of the Elephants. "Man is massing on the plains. For generations we have had peace, but now it seems we must fight again. If we are to keep Man from taking our home from us, we must send our warriors into the plains. Gather yourselves and attend to the War Council."

And then the Elephant sent his sons and daughters to tramp though the jungle and trumpet the calling to the War Council. And the animals whispered amongst themselves. Some were very frightened and did not want to fight, but others were ready to march as soon as possible.

Monkey said to the Tigress, "Man is massing on the plains. Let us go to the War Council and hear what is to be heard."

"No," said the Tigress.

Monkey thought at first that the Tigress was scared, but he knew better than to believe that, for the Tigress feared nothing. She would say no more, and when Monkey went to the War Council, she did not go with him.

Many animals came to the War Council, and they debated long into the night about what to do about the massing of Man on the edge of the plains. The Wolves and the Tigers and the Monkeys promised to be fierce fighters and meet Man head-on. The Elephants promised to be strong and sturdy leaders. The Hares and the Birds promised to be fleet messengers and scouts. The Serpents promised to be swift and deadly assassins. And so, one by one, the animals pledged to protect their jungle from the onslaught of Man.

Monkey left at once to fetch the Tigress, for he was very excited about going to war – you must excuse him, my Dearest, for he was a young and most foolish Monkey. Like so many other young Monkeys, he wanted to do his part for his home and keep safe all the other little animals that could not go and fight.

He found the Tigress staring at the Moon, so full and wide, and he jumped about, cackling and hooting with joy.

"Oh, my friend," he said, "it is decided. We will march against Man and keep safe our most excellent jungle. Are you not proud? Will you not come with us?"

"No," said the Tigress. "I will not."

"That is just as well," said the Monkey, "for Tigresses should stay in the jungle and be safe while the Tigers go off and fight. Someone must look after the little cubbies."

The Tigress, who had no cubs of her own and did not seem to want any, stared at the Moon and did not answer.

"Are you unwell?" asked Monkey, who is rather thick-skilled and often does not see what is right in front of him. "It is bad to go to war, yes, but we have defeated Man before, we have always kept the jungle safe."

The Tigress said, "Why should we fight? Animals will suffer, and they will die, and nothing will be solved. Man will always be on the plains, we cannot drive him back."

Monkey laughed and danced around her and patted her head and rubbed her ears and said, "You worry too much, Tigress. You will see, this will be over soon. We are too strong for Man."

And so Monkey went off to join his brothers, and they marched to meet Man, whose armies threatened to invade the jungle. For many months, the animals taunted Man and boasted that they would defeat him quickly, and they fought valiantly and kept Man at bay.

But wars are not as easy as that, my Dearest, and Man retaliated with his guns and his own animals, the ones that belong to him – the Dogs and the Horses and the Elephants who clear the land for him. The animals of the jungle saw that they had been wrong to boast, for Man was powerful indeed, and he threatened to take the jungle from them.

Months dragged into years, and the Tigress watched many of her friends die, and the jungle became a quiet, desolate place. The other Tigresses cried over their losses, but the Tigress spent many lonely hours staring at the Moon. Some of the other animals left the jungle to join the battle, but the Tigresses said, "No, we must remain in the jungle where we are safe. We will stay here and pray for the others, but we cannot leave."

Only the Tigress was silent.

And then one night, she left the jungle and came to stand at the Edge, and she saw the terrible war that had devastated the plains. She walked the Edge for many days until she came to a battlefield, and she finally saw the Enemy for herself, and she understood that Man had come for them at last. For you must understand, my Dearest, Man is never pleased with what he has and craves constantly for what is not his. That is Man's way.

Although she wanted to run back to the safety of the jungle, Tigress would not give in to fear, and she plunged into the battle, and she would accept her time when it came. And Man ran in terror, for he saw that she was beautiful and deadly and unafraid.

But one Man saw her and loved her beauty and her deadliness, and he said, "This tigress I shall not kill; I shall capture her and keep her for my own, and I shall never let her go."

From that moment on, he focused only on the Tigress. He left his men behind and pursued her as she crossed battlefield after battlefield, and always he was so close to her but unable to capture her. When she turned to confront him, he backed away, for he did not wish to shoot her and kill her. And the Tigress, content to make him run from her, did not pursue him but went back to her work on the battlefield. And always, he would then continue his chase, waiting for the moment when she would be weakest and thus fall to his power.

As it happens, my Dearest, in another part of the jungle lived other clans of Wolves and Tigers and Monkeys, and all through this war, they watched from the jungle and shook their heads and said, "Good thing we're not involved in this." Several times, their neighbors came to them and pleaded them to aid their struggle, but they shook their heads and said, "Sorry, but we don't have anything to do with you and Man. See this line here? That's our border, and we won't cross it. Keep your fighting to yourselves, thank you very much."

I'm sure you know, my Dearest, what will happen next. Now that Man saw victory in the near future, he turned his eyes to this neighboring jungle, and of course, he wanted it. Why take only a portion when you can have the lot? So Man gathered together some of his soldiers, and he marched across the border.

"Do you see now?" said one side of the jungle to the other.

"Dear me," said the other side, "this won't do at all."

And from these clans came fresh warriors, new to the battlefield but as determined as those who had come before. And Man was astonished for he had no reserves of his own. One by one, his battalions were defeated, and soon after, Man retreated back to the plains and laid down his arms and surrendered.

The animals had saved their jungle, but at what cost, my Dearest? At what cost? Monkey had many fewer brothers to swing with in the trees, and the Wolves howled for pack-mates who would never come home. And the Tigress did not return.

You see, my Dearest, the Tigress had gone though all these battles without thinking of her own needs, and when the fighting stopped, she collapsed from exhaustion. The Man who had followed her, who loved her so much he wished to own her, had waited for just this moment. And instead of helping her and taking pity on her, he ordered his men to chloroform her and bind her and put her in a cage, so that she would be his for always and forever.

When she awoke, the Tigress saw her grave mistake, and she roared and bit at the café bars, but they held her fast, and the Man laughed at her. "I have caught you fair and square," he told her, "and now I may look upon your beauty whenever I like, and I may boat that I have tamed your deadly nature."

The Tigress said to him, "I fear neither Beast nor Man, and I have faced Death with my eyes open. My body you may have imprisoned, but my soul will never be yours." And then she stopped her roaring, and she lay down in her cage, and she resigned herself to her fate. And thought the Man took her back to his home on the plans and put her in his menagerie, her mind was far away in the jungle, and she was staring at the Moon.

Now, you must not despair, my Dearest, for the story is not over yet. You must remember Monkey, who may be very foolish but is also very loyal. He simply would not believe that the Tigress had fallen in battle – not she, who is so beautiful and deadly – and so he ran all around the plains searching for her. Because he was so slippery and quick and relatively harmless, Man ignored him, and he came into their camps and asked all the animals of Man if they had seen the Tigress.

"She is beautiful and deadly," he said to them, "and she is my friend, and I would like to see her, please."

"Man has caught her fair and square," said Dog, growling.

"And now," said Horse, stamping his hooves, "her beauty is his, and he has taken away her deadliness."

And they laughed at him, for they belonged to Man, and they had forgotten what it means to be free. Some, my Dearest, believe it easier to belong to another, so long as they are safe and well-fed. But Monkey knew that the Tigress would rather be free than safe, and so he sought her out in the Man's menagerie, and there he found her lying in her cage. When he came up to the bars, the Tigress turned her back on him and pretended to be asleep.

"Please," he said, "won't you tell me how to get you out of your cage so you can come home to the jungle? The Man has captured your body, but your soul is still free, and it is staring at the Moon and waiting for you to return."

"I belong to Man now," said the Tigress. "I left the jungle, and that is my own fault. Here I shall suffer, and here I shall die. It is the way of all things." And she would speak no more to him.

Upset by the Tigress's words, Monkey went to the wisest old hare he could find, and he said, "Please, won't you tell me how to get the Tigress out of her cage? She is beautiful and deadly and does not belong to the Man, no matter how much he wishes to keep her."

And the old Hare laughed, and his old Hare wife laughed too, and they said, "Silly Monkey, of course the Tiger belongs to the Man. He has caught her fair and square, and now nothing can free her. Besides, it is better to be in Man's cage than in the crosshairs of his rifle."

Monkey would not believe this, so he went to the Man's Elephant (that is, my Dearest, not the Wild Elephant, you understand) and said, "Please, you who know Man so well and serve him with your great strength and great size, won't you tell me how to get the Tigress out of her cage?"

"The Man has claimed his bounty," said the Man's Elephant, "and he has caught the Tigress fair and square. Besides, it is better to work for the Man than to die for his sport."

But Monkey would not believe this either, so he went to the great Tortoise, the wisest and oldest of all creatures, who travels slowly and thus sees all. "Please, wise mother," he begged, "won't you tell me how to get the Tigress out of her cage?"

The Tortoise, who has lived long and seen much and so does things very slowly, sat and stared at the Moon for many long nights. During all this time, the Monkey tried to be patient, because one must never hurry a Tortoise, but he could never understand how one could just sit and stare at the Moon without dancing and singing to her as well. So he danced around the Tortoise to keep himself occupied, and the Tortoise ignored him, reflecting that, in her day, Monkeys had better manners.

Finally, after many nights of staring at the Moon, the Tortoise said, "You cannot get the Tigress out of her cage."

Now, Monkey, as you know, my Dearest, does not give up easily, but he had spent many weeks searching for a way to get the Tigress our of her cage, and he had just waited several long nights for the Tortoise to give her answer. And now that he had it, he was so sad that he sat down and cried, which is something Monkeys rarely do.

"Attend to me," said the Tortoise, who had all the patience in the world. "Crying won't get the Tigress out of her cage."

"The Tigress is my friend!" Monkey cried. "She is beautiful and deadly, but the Man locks her up so he can keep her always and forever."

"That is Man's way," replied the Tortoise. "He imprisons what he loves. His love is a cage. But love needs freedom to thrive, otherwise it poisons and kills. The Man will never understand this, for he sees only what he wants. And he has convinced the Tigress that this is the way of the world, so this is her fate."

At the thought of the Tigress dying caged and alone, Monkey started crying again. And a crying Monkey is a terrible thing to behold, my Dearest, for he is so loud and noisy that he can wake any sleeping thing, just as he can when he is laughing. Monkeys do nothing in half-measures.

"You must stop that noise at once," said the Tortoise. "I did not say the Tigress can never be free; I said only that you cannot free her. No one can free the Tigress except for herself."

And then the Tortoise went to sleep, for she was very tired after spending so many nights staring at the Moon and then dealing with Monkey, who would tire anyone out. Even though Monkey jumped on her shell to wake her up and ask more questions, she slept and slept and dreamed of a time when Monkeys had better manners.

Now Monkey was truly at a loss, because Tortoises are very rarely wrong about these sorts of things, especially after spending so many nights staring at the Moon.

"Ah!" he said. "Perhaps the Moon gave Tortoise the real answer, but she is now too sleepy to tell me (because Monkeys can be so very tiresome, you know), and perhaps if I sit and stare at the Moon, she will give me the answer too!"

And so he sat and stared and stared and sat for many, many months, which is a very long time for a Monkey to be still and quiet. All this time, the Tigress belonged to the Man, and he didn't simply stare at her in her cage, he made her jump through rings of fire and showed her off to his friends, except none of them could get too close, for the Man was very possessive of her. After all, he'd caught her fair and square.

One might think, my Dearest, that the Tigress had lost that spark that is deep inside all Tigers and Tigresses, but this is not so. After such a long time in her cage, she simply forgot what it means to be free. This was terrible indeed, for her eyes lost their luster, and her coat lost its shine. And the Man looked upon her and said, "This tigress was once deadly and beautiful, but now she is mine for always and forever, and I shall never let her go."

But, after all that time, because wonders will never cease, my Dearest, Monkey jumped up from his spot and hooted and laughed because he had finally learned how to free the Tigress from her cage. And off he ran into the jungle, for he had many plans to plan indeed.

"Then," you may ask, "how does the Tigress get out of her cage?"

Well, my Dearest, that is another story altogether.