# The Tiger - Source: McGuffey's Second Reader (second-reader.gutenberg.org), Public domain, William Holmes McGuffey, 1879, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Grades 1 and 2 - Subjects: Animals - Topics: tiger, whiskers, chain, kitten, tent, animal - Length: 277 words, about 2 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: THE TIGER. - The tiger is a giant cat. His body is nearly covered with black stripes. - Unlike the lion, he runs so fast that the swiftest horse can not overtake him. He goes over the ground by making bounds or springs, one after another. - By night, as well as by day, the tiger watches for his prey. With a frightful roar, he will seize a man, and carry him off. - Have you ever thought what use whiskers are to cats? Lions have great whiskers, and so have tigers and all other animals of the cat kind. - Whenever you find an animal with whiskers like the cat's, you may be sure that animal steals softly among branches and thick bushes. - By the slightest touch on the tiger's whiskers, he knows when there is anything in his road. - A few years ago, some English officers went out to hunt. When coming home from their day's sport, they found a little tiger kitten. - They took it with them and tied it, with a collar and chain, to the pole of their tent. It played about, to the delight of all who saw it. - One evening, just as it was growing dark, they heard a sound that frightened them greatly. It was the roar of a tiger. - The kitten pulled at the chain, and tried to break away. With a sharp cry, it answered the voice outside. - All at once, a large tigress bounded into the middle of the tent. She caught her kitten by the neck, and broke the chain which bound it. - Then turning to the door of the tent, she dashed away as suddenly as she had come. ## Picture credits - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain () - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain ()