The Lady or the Tiger

an Rurouni Kenshin adaption

In the very olden times there lived a semi-barbaric king. He was a man exuberant fancy with a will and authority so irresistible that he turned his fancies into fact. He was greatly given to self-communing (for his opinion was the only one he held to any value) and when he and himself agreed upon anything, that thing was done.

One of the notions by which his fancies held to was that of the public arena. It was not built to display exhibitions of manly or beastly valor but to decide the fate of those accused of a noteworthy crime.

When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest, or interrupt the drinking of (for there was nothing the king like to do so much as drink), the king public notice was given that the fate of the accused would be decided in the kings arena, a structure who's design was borrowed from afar but whose purpose was solely to allow the king more time to drink.

When all of the people had assembled and the king, with his court, were prepared, the king gave a signal and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheatre. Directly opposite him were two doors, exactly alike. It was the duty and privilege of the person on trial to choose a door and open it. He could open either door he pleased. No guidance was provided except for impartial and incorruptible chance.

If he opened one, there came out a hungry tiger, which immeadiatly came out and tore him to pieces, a punishment for his guilt. The moment the case was decided, great iron bells were clanged and hired mourners bewailed the fate of the guilty party.

If he opened the other, there came forth a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his Majesty could select, and to this lady he was immediately wed, as a reward for his innocence. No matter if he might already posses a wife and family or that his affections may be set upon one of his own choosing, the king allowed nothing to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. In the instance that the party was found innocent, a priest was provided and all those present would witness the wedding.

This was the king's semibarbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness was obvious... the accused chose his own fate. And not only was it fair, it was positively determinate: the accused was instantly punished if guilty and sowise rewarded if innocent. There was no escape from the judgement.

This institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered, they had no way of knowing if they would witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding. This lent the event much more interest than it would have possessed otherwise. The king also enjoyed these events for either a wedding or a funeral were good occasions to drink on.

This semibarbaric king had a daughter. She was lively and energetic with a soul as freverent 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 court was a young man fitness of blood and lowness of station common to heros who loved royal maidens. The royal maiden was satisfied with her lover, for he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all of the kingdom (though he was a little, well a lot, boring, but she could overlook that) and she loved him to a degree that had enough barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love affair moved on for several months until the king discovered its existence. He did not hesitate. The youth was immeadiatly cast into prison and the date was set.

The tiger-cages of the kingdom were searched for the most savage and relentless beasts. The ranks of maiden youth and beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by competent judges. Of course everybody knew that the deed with which the accused was charged with had been done. He had loved the princess and neither he nor the princess thought to deny it. But, the king would allow none of this to sway the workings of his justice. No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be disposed of (and he would have yet another occasion to drink) and he would have the pleasure of watching the course of events, which would determine if the young man had done wrong in allowing himself to love the princess.

The appointed day arrived and all of the people gathered to find the fate of the young man. The king and his court settled in their appointed positions across from the two fateful doors and the signal was given.

The door beneath the royal party was open and the youth stepped into view. Tall, beautiful, fair and totally impassive, his appearance was greeted with a low hum of admiration and anxiety. Half of the audience had not known so grand a youth lived among them. No wonder the Princess had loved him!

As the youth entered the arena, he turned and bowed to the king, as was custom. But his eyes were not up on His royal personage, they were fixed on the princess seated to the right of Him. Had it not been the portion of her barbaric soul, she would not have been there, but her intense and frevrid soul would not allow her to be absent from and event that interested her so greatly. >From the moment the decree went out, no other thought had entered her mind but this event and the various subjects connected to it. Possessing more power, influence and force of character than any other who had been so interested in a case, she had done what no other person had done-- she had acquired the secret of the doors. She knew behind which waited the lady and which held the tiger. Though these doors, heavily curtained with skins on the inside, gave no indication to the one who would raise the latch. But, gold and the power of a woman's will (and the occasional thrown knife) had brought the secret to the princess.

Not only did she know in which room stood the lady, but she knew who had been selected... and she hated her. She hated her because she knew that the chosen lady loved her lover. Often she had seen this fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of her lover and sometimes she thought those glances were perceived and even returned. Now and then she had seen them talking together, only for a brief moment, but much could be said in an instant. It may have been of unimportantant topics, but how would she know that? The girl was beautiful and she had dared to raise her eyes at the beloved of the princess. So, with all of the intensity transmitted from the blood of her wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind the silent door.

When her lover tuned and looked at her, he saw that she knew. He had expected her to know. He understood her nature and his soul was assured that she would not rest until the secret was hers. The moment he looked upon her, he saw that she had succeeded as he knew she would succeed.

In his quick and anxious glance, he asked, "Which?" It was as plain to her as if he had shouted it from where he stood. The question was asked in one instant and answered in another. Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand and mad a slight quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her for all eyes were on him,

Impassive as ever, he turned and with a firm and rapid step walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed on this man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right and opened it.

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Now the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out to the door... or did the lady?

The more reflection given this, the more difficult the answer. Think of it not as a decision of your own but of the semibarbaric princess with her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of love, despair and jealousy. She had lost him but who should have him?

How often in her nightmares and waking hours started in the horror of imagining her lover in the cruel jaws of the tiger?

But, how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! His inexpressive face turning to delight as he discovered the lady on the other side. Him reaching toward her to lead her to the waiting priest and start their life together, followed by the roars of joy from the arena crowd, in which her one despairing shriek would be lost.

Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in a semibarbaric heaven?

And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood!

Her decision was indicated in an instant but had been made after days of anguished deliberation. She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would answer and gave that answer without the slightest of hesitation.

This is not a question to be lightly considered and I would not presume myself to be the one to give the only answer. And so I leave you with a challenge: Which came out of the opened door... the lady or the tiger?

Author's Notes: This is a RK adaption of what I think is on of the greatest short stories ever written. I actually wrote this one so that I could adapt the sequel, "The Discourager of Hesitancy," which is what caused this idea in the first place (so look out for that one in the near future!^_^). Most of this is almost verbatim from the original so all on the really cool sounding parts came from that. I just wanted to get the scenario out so that I could do the next fic. And, in case you didn't figure out who was who...

King=Hiko

Princess=Misao (so what if they're not related...)

Young Man=Aoshi

Sariah DeGidio