PALAM was a young Indian boy who lived with his father and mother in a little thatched house up in the Nilgiri Hills in South India.
One morning his mother called him and said, “Palam, your poor father has a burning fever. Do you think you could go to the Tiger Hills to your great uncle’s, and get from him some herb medicines?”
“I will gladly go, Mother,” he replied.
“Take good care,” whispered his mother as she said good-bye. “They say many tigers live in those parts.”
Palam set out at dawn the next morning, and arrived safely at his uncle’s later in the day. Bowing low he delivered his message, and then sat down to wait while his great uncle prepared the herbs. Palam’s aunt then appeared with a drink of goat’s milk and some cakes, which he enjoyed after his long walk.
While he ate and drank, his great aunt sat and talked to him. She had such a happy peaceful look on her face, and she began to tell her little nephew the secret of her joy.
“I have come to know the wonderful Saviour God,” she said. “He has given me a new heart, and one day I shall go to the Land Beyond and live with Him forever.”
Now Palam was very fond of his great aunt, and he listened willingly to all she told him about her Saviour God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
At last the medicine was ready. Palam bowed low and set out for home.
“The good Lord go with you and protect you,” whispered his great aunt as he turned away. “If in danger or trouble, pray only to Him. He loves you and will hear your cry.”
Palam salaamed (he bowed reverently), and was soon out of sight in the jungle. Quickly he trotted along.
About half way home he had the feeling he was being followed; he heard a soft pad-pad behind him. He turned to look, and sure enough, to his horror, he saw a great tiger following him. He tried to run, but only a few leaps and the fearful beast was upon him. Seizing him like a cat would a mouse, the tiger began to drag him through the mud to its lair.
Poor Palam! For a moment he thought it was all over with him. He would never see his dear mother and father again. But suddenly the words of his great aunt flashed into his mind, and he cried, “Lord Jesus, save me.”
In a moment his self-control returned, and just when the tiger was dragging him through the mud, a bright idea struck Palam. Seizing a handful of the slimy mud, he smeared it across and inside the great cat’s eyes. For a moment or two it was blinded, and dropped the boy.
Quickly Palam scrambled to his feet and managed to spring up into a low hanging tree. Then he climbed out onto a branch that overhung the swamp. By this time the tiger was after him again, though still partly blinded by the mud in its eyes. It made a great leap into the air at Palam, but misjudged its distance, and landed with a roar right in the midst of the swamp. While the great beast floundered about in the morass, Palam slipped down from the tree and disappeared into the jungle.
“Lord Jesus, I thank Thee. Thou art the true God, and from here on I will worship only Thee,” prayed Palam. Then he ran on home, still holding on to the precious herb medicine.
Arriving home safely, his mother attended to his gashes and bruises, and she listened almost breathless while Palam told her of his awful experience, and of how his new Saviour God had saved him from the tiger.
“He has given me a new heart too,” he said, “and he will do the same for you, Mother, if you will ask Him.”
ML-09/05/1971