the lady or the tiger

• lisedeyken ingilizce edebiyat dersinde okudugumuz cok degisik bir frank r. stockton oykusu. sinifimizda ben dahil tum kizlarin hikayeyi okuduktan sonra hoca tarafindan kendilerine yoneltilen "siz hangisini gosterirdiniz, the lady, or the tiger?" sorusuna "the tiger, of course" seklinde cevap vermemiz de cok ilgi cekici bir durumdur. yine de hala okuyan herkese sorulur: which came out of the opened door,-the lady, or the tiger?
• (bkz: eye or the tiger)
• (bkz: eye of the tiger)
• arada tekrar okudugumda, ruh halime gore, hangi kapinin isaret edilmesi gerektigini farkli bicimlerde yorumladigim, sahane eser.
• bu hikayenin yazılmayan sonunda prenses, sevgilisinin ölmesine dayanamayacağı için "the lady"nin olduğu kapıyı gösterir. sevgilisi de bunu bildiği için diğer kapıyı seçer ve "the tiger" onu parçalar.
• frank r. stockton'a ait olan ve hikaye sonunda tamamen insan ruhu ve aşka bakış açısının sorgulandığı bir short story. genelde hikaye işlendikten sonra öğrencilere bir alternatif son yazdırırım ki çıkan sonuçlara göre kendi bakış açılarını da eleştiririz sınıfta beraber, güzel olur.
• the lady or the tiger
  
  ayrica
  diger dusunce deneyleri icin
  (bkz: #92649934)
• ın the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose
  ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the
  progressiveness of distant latin neighbors, were still large,
  florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was
  barbaric. he was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an
  authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied
  fancies into facts. he was greatly given to self-communing, and,
  when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.
  when every member of his domestic and political systems moved
  smoothly in its appointed course, his nature was bland and genial;
  but, whenever there was a little hitch, and some of his orbs got
  out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for
  nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight and
  crush down uneven places.
  among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become
  semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of
  manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined
  and cultured.
  but even here the exuberant and barbaric fancy asserted itself
  the arena of the king was built, not to give the people an
  opportunity of hearing the rhapsodies of dying gladiators, nor to
  enable them to view the inevitable conclusion of a conflict
  between religious opinions and hungry jaws, but for purposes far
  better adapted to widen and develop the mental energies of the
  people. this vast amphitheater, with its encircling galleries, its
  mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of
  poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded,
  by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance.
  when a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance
  to interest the king, public notice was given that on an appointed
  day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king's
  arena, a structure which well deserved its name, for, although its
  form and plan were borrowed from afar, its purpose emanated
  solely from the brain of this man, who, every barleycorn a king,
  knew no tradition to which he owed more allegiance than pleased
  his fancy, and who ingrafted on every adopted form of human
  thought and action the rich growth of his barbaric idealism.
  when all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king,
  surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state
  on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him
  opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the
  amphitheater. directly opposite him, on the other side of the
  inclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. ıt
  was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk
  directly to these doors and open one of them. he could open either
  door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but
  that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. ıf
  he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the
  fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which
  immediately sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a
  punishment for his guilt. the moment that the case of the
  criminal was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great
  wails went up from the hired mourners posted on the outer rim of
  *the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast
  hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly
  that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have
  merited so dire a fate.
  but, if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth
  from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his
  majesty could select among his fair subjects, and to this lady he
  was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. ıt
  mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or
  that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own
  selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to
  interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. the
  exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and
  in the arena. another door opened beneath the king, and a priest,
  followed by a band of choristers, and dancing maidens blowing
  joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure,
  advanced to where the pair stood, side by side, and the wedding
  was promptly and cheerily solemnized. then the gay brass bells
  rang forth their merry peals, the people shouted glad hurrahs, and
  the innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his
  path, led his bride to his home.
  this was the king's semi-barbaric method of administering
  justice. ıts perfect fairness is obvious. the criminal could not
  know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he
  pleased, without having the slightest idea whether, in the next
  instant, he was to be devoured or married. on some occasions the
  tiger came out of one door, and on some out of the other. the
  decisions of this tribunal were not only fair, they were positively
  determinate: the accused person was instantly punished if he
  found himself guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the
  spot, whether he liked it or not. there was no escape from the
  judgments of the king's arena.
  the institution was a very popular one. when the people gathered
  together on one of the great trial days, they never knew whether
  they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding.
  this element of uncertainty lent an interest to the occasion
  which it could not otherwise have attained. thus, the masses
  were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the
  community could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan,
  for did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own
  hands?
  this semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most
  florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his
  own. as is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and
  was loved by him above all humanity. among his courtiers was a
  young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station
  common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal
  maidens. this royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for
  he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this
  kingdom, and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of
  barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. this love
  affair moved on happily for many months, until one day the king
  happened to discover its existence. he did not hesitate nor waver
  in regard to his duty in the premises. the youth was immediately
  cast into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the
  king's arena. this, of course, was an especially important
  occasion, and his majesty, as well as all the people, was greatly
  interested in the workings and development of this trial. never
  before had such a case occurred; never before had a subject dared
  to love the daughter of the king. ın after years such things
  became commonplace enough, but then they were in no slight
  degree novel and startling.
  the tiger-cages of the kingdom were searched for the most
  savage and relentless beasts, from which the fiercest monster
  might be selected for the arena; and the ranks of maiden youth
  and beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by
  competent judges in order that the young man might have a
  fitting bride in case fate did not determine for him a different
  destiny. of course, everybody knew that the deed with which the
  accused was charged had been done. he had loved the princess, and
  neither he, she, nor any one else, thought of denying the fact; but
  the king would not think of allowing any fact of this kind to
  interfere with the workings of the tribunal, in which he took such
  great delight and satisfaction. no matter how the affair turned
  out, the youth would be disposed of, and the king would take an
  aesthetic pleasure in watching the course of events, which would
  determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in
  allowing himself to love the princess.
  the appointed day arrived. from far and near the people gathered,
  and thronged the great galleries of the arena, and crowds, unable
  to gain admittance, massed themselves against its outside walls.
  the king and his court were in their places, opposite the twin
  doors, those fateful portals, so terrible in their similarity.
  all was ready. the signal was given. a door beneath the royal
  party opened, and the lover of the princess walked into the arena.
  tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum
  of admiration and anxiety. half the audience had not known so
  grand a youth had lived among them. no wonder the princess loved
  him! what a terrible thing for him to be there!
  as the youth advanced into the arena he turned, as the custom
  was, to bow to the king, but he did not think at all of that royal
  personage. his eyes were fixed upon the princess, who sat to the
  right of her father. had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in
  her nature it is probable that lady would not have been there, but
  her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an
  occasion in which she was so terribly interested. from the
  moment that the decree had gone forth that her lover should
  decide his fate in the king's arena, she had thought of nothing,
  night or day, but this great event and the various subjects
  connected with it. possessed of more power, influence, and force
  of character than any one who had ever before been interested in
  such a case, she had done what no other person had done,--she had
  possessed herself of the secret of the doors. she knew in which
  of the two rooms, that lay behind those doors, stood the cage of
  the tiger, with its open front, and in which waited the lady.
  through these thick doors, heavily curtained with skins on the
  inside, it was impossible that any noise or suggestion should
  come from within to the person who should approach to raise the
  latch of one of them. but gold, and the power of a woman's will,
  had brought the secret to the princess.
  and not only did she know in which room stood the lady ready to
  emerge, all blushing and radiant, should her door be opened, but
  she knew who the lady was. ıt was one of the fairest and
  loveliest of the damsels of the court who had been selected as
  the reward of the accused youth, should he be proved innocent of
  the crime of aspiring to one so far above him; and the princess
  hated her. often had she seen, or imagined that she had seen, this
  fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of
  her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were
  perceived, and even returned. now and then she had seen them
  talking together; it was but for a moment or two, but much can be
  said in a brief space; it may have been on most unimportant
  topics, but how could she know that? the girl was lovely, but she
  had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess; and,
  with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her
  through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the
  woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door.
  when her lover turned and looked at her, and his eye met hers as
  she sat there, paler and whiter than any one in the vast ocean of
  anxious faces about her, he saw, by that power of quick
  perception which is given to those whose souls are one, that she
  knew behind which door crouched the tiger, and behind which
  stood the lady. he had expected her to know it. he understood her
  nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until
  she had made plain to herself this thing, hidden to all other
  lookers-on, even to the king. the only hope for the youth in which
  there was any element of certainty was based upon the success
  of the princess in discovering this mystery; and the moment he
  looked upon her, he saw she had succeeded, as in his soul he knew
  she would succeed.
  then it was that his quick and anxious glance asked the question:
  "which?" ıt was as plain to her as if he shouted it from where he
  stood. there was not an instant to be lost. the question was
  asked in a flash; it must be answered in another.
  her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. she raised
  her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. no
  one but her lover saw her. every eye but his was fixed on the man
  in the arena.
  he turned, and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the
  empty space. every heart stopped beating, every breath was held,
  every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. without the
  slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened
  it.
  now, the point of the story is this: did the tiger come out of that
  door, or did the lady ?
  the more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to
  answer. ıt involves a study of the human heart which leads us
  through devious mazes of passion, out of which it is difficult to
  find our way. think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the
  question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded,
  semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the
  combined fires of despair and jealousy. she had lost him, but who
  should have him?
  how often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started
  in wild horror, and covered her face with her hands as she thought
  of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited
  the cruel fangs of the tiger!
  but how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! how in
  her grievous reveries had she gnashed her teeth, and torn her hair,
  when she saw his start of rapturous delight as he opened the door
  of the lady! how her soul had burned in agony when she had seen
  him rush to meet that woman, with her flushing cheek and
  sparkling eye of triumph; when she had seen him lead her forth,
  his whole frame kindled with the joy of recovered life; when she
  had heard the glad shouts from the multitude, and the wild
  ringing of the happy bells; when she had seen the priest, with his
  joyous followers, advance to the couple, and make them man and
  wife before her very eyes; and when she had seen
  them walk away together upon their path of flowers, followed by
  the tremendous shouts of the hilarious multitude, in which her
  one despairing shriek was lost and drowned!
  would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for
  her in the blessed regions of semi-barbaric futurity?
  and yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood!
  her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been
  made after days and nights of anguished deliberation. she had
  known she would be asked, she had decided what she would
  answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, she had moved her
  hand to the right.
  the question of her decision is one not to be lightly considered,
  and it is not for me to presume to set myself up as the one person
  able to answer it. and so ı leave it with all of you: which came
  out of the opened door,--the lady, or the tiger?