Yesterdays in the PhilippinesStevens, Joseph Earle
History
Yesterdays in the Philippines
Stevens, Joseph Earle
Philippines -- Description and travel
Then great shouts of "El toro! El toro!" arose, as off at the small
gate, at one side, appeared the bull, calmly walking forward, under
the guidance of two natives, who didn't wear any shoes. And renewed
applause arose, as the small heavy cage containing the R. B. tiger was
rolled up to a sliding-door of the central structure. The bull was
shoved into the iron jail, the gate closed, a dozen or more bunches
of firecrackers were set off in the small box holding the tiger, in
order to waken him up, the slide connecting the two was withdrawn,
and, with a deafening roar, the great Indian cat rushed forth and
tried to swallow a man who was standing outside the bars waving a
heated pitchfork. The bull stood quietly in one corner wagging his
tail, and after blinking his eyes once or twice, proceeded to examine
his antagonist, in a most friendly spirit. In fact, there seemed to
be no hard feeling at all between the two beasts, and the tiger only
wanted to get at the gentleman outside the cage, not at the bull. The
audience howled, jeered at the tiger, bet on the bull, and criticised
the man with the pitchfork as he gave the tiger several hard pokes
in the ribs. This served to anger the beast so that he finally did
make a dive at the bull, and promptly found himself tossed into the
air. But as he came down, he hung on to the bull's nose, and dug his
claws into the tough hide. Curiously enough, the bull didn't seem to
mind that in the least, and the two stood perfectly still for some
five minutes, locked in close quarters.
To make a long story short, there occurred four or five of these mild
attacks, always incited by the man with the pitchfork, during which the
bull stepped on the tiger, making him howl with pain, and the latter
badly bit the former on the legs and nose. After the fourth round,
both beasts seemed to be in want of a siesta. It was growing dark,
and the dissatisfied audience cried for another bull and another
tiger. The first animal was finally dragged away, after the tiger
had retreated to his cage, and a fresh bull with more spirit was
introduced. Now, however, the tiger was less game than ever, and no
amount of firecrackers or pitchforkings could induce him to stir from
the small cage. He seemed far too sensible, and literally appeared
to be the possessor of an asbestos skin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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