There was a woodcutter in a village. He went to the forest every day to gather wood. After cutting it, he would chop it up and sell it in the market.
His life went on like this for many years. He was never really satisfied with life. Often, he quarreled with his wife at home. He had chased his sons away when they were young.
One day, while he was on his way to cut wood, he ran into a tiger. He barely escaped after getting hit by it and ran back toward his house.
A villager saw him running and asked, “What’s happened to you today? Why are you running like that?”
He said happily, “In the forest I saw a deer sleeping. No matter how you chase it, you can easily find it.”
The man quickly grabbed two friends from the village and chased them into the forest, but they only saw an angry tiger. The tiger chased them, and they managed to run back home, scared of the tiger.
While running, they often fell and got hurt.
The woodcutter was thrilled when he got close after hearing that they were being chased by the tiger.
A villager said at the time, “Some people try to hurt others if they themselves get hurt. The woodcutter did something similar.”