MOTHER tiger thought there never were two such lovely babies as her darling cubs, Tabby and Growler. Certainly they were a good-looking little pair, with their handsome striped jackets, pretty white shirts, and funny little stumpy tails. Mother tiger would probably greet you with an angry growl, but she had a very tender heart for her little kittens.
One afternoon, mother tiger and her cubs were asleep in the jungle. All was so still in the heat of the Indian afternoon. Only a little croak now and again from a tree frog or a bit of chatter from a monkey, could be heard. But if most creatures were drowsy and quiet, somebody was very much awake and alert. Did you see a little gleam down there in the long grass? Watch it. It is moving a little, though you hear no sound. It is the cruel eye of a snake, a huge creature, but the writhing folds of its body are so like the withered grass all around it, and it moves so stealthily and silently you can scarcely see what it is. It is coming slowly toward the sleeping cubs. Look how the eyes flash and glare as the head is raised. Another minute, and it may be all up with either Tabby or Growler!
But the rustle of the dead leaves wakens mother tiger. Up she springs in a moment, and there close by her babies quivers the head of the great snake whose bite is fatal. Now a snake is not easy to get hold of, even for a tiger. But mother tiger thinks nothing of the danger to herself; she only knows her darlings are in peril. So, springing at the poisonous creature, she caught its neck in her teeth.
It was as much as she could do to hang on. The snake squirmed and writhed, and managed to twist itself twice around her body; it lashed its tail so firmly to a tree that it actually held the great beast a prisoner, and began to crush its enemy.
Tabby and Growler squealed and arched their little backs, trembling in terror. Then at last the brave mother got a firm hold close to the snake’s head. Her powerful jaws crunched and her teeth met as she held on. There was one last tremendous struggle, and then it was all over. The great snake’s hunting days ended forever.
When the cubs saw their dreadful foe was dead, they squealed afresh with delight, and let themselves be licked all over by their triumphant mother. She told them, when she had finished using her tongue as a scrubbing brush, that as they grew older they must always be on the lookout for snakes.
Now boys and girls in these lands are seldom attacked by venomous snakes, but they have a far worse foe — something that “biteth like a serpent.” And it is so silent and sly, creeping up on us while we think of no danger. Oftentimes people are seen to be fast asleep when this old serpent strikes, and then they find themselves in the dreadful grip of a strong sinful habit from which there is no escape. Only the Lord Jesus can save us from Satan’s power. He watches over and safely keeps all those who have fled to him for refuge. In the great conflict at Calvary the Lord Jesus died to save sinners like you and me; “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
ML-11/02/1969