The Lady or the Tiger and Other Stories

by Frank R. Stockton

Enter a magical realm of fantasy and adventure...a world of brave heroes, daring quests, and fabulous monsters!

A sleepy village is thrown into a flurry when the local man-eating monster decides to pay a call in "The Griffin and the Minor Canon."

A gentle beekeeper undertakes a dangerous journey to solve a sorcerer's mysterious riddle in "The Bee-man of Orn."

Having angered the ruthless king of a faraway land, a young hero is forced to face the ultimate challenge...choose "The Lady, or the Tiger"?

And re-enter the tiger's arena with "The Discourager of Hesitancy"--the rare and difficult continuation of "The Lady, or the Tiger"!

These are but some of the timeless tales in this collection by a master American storyteller!

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Literature, Anthologies, Mystery

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Frank Richard Stockton was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century. Stockton avoided the didactic moralizing common to children's stories of the time, instead using clever humor to poke at greed, violence, abuse of power and other human foibles, describing his fantastic characters' adventures in a charming, matter-of-fact way.

Reviews

[Duane Parker]

**spoiler alert**

Published in 1882 by American writer Frank R. Stockton.

Here is a story that poses the question, "the lady or the tiger"? But the question is not answered. The answer is for you, the reader, to decide. And it's an answer that will expose your base emotions, even your moral character. So think about it before you answer, but answer honestly. No one but you will ever know.

[kohey]

It is a great story line with a food-for-thought ending.

[Jokoloyo]

Frank Stockton classics in one book.

I wish more children stories author could be inspired by Stockton. I have seen too many children books with moral instruction style, too patronizing. Stockton delivered his moral message with literally "showing, not telling" method.

[Alina]

An open-ended short story about the selflessness of love and the selfishness of jealousy, and about the randomness of justice.

[Sterlingcindysu]

A perfect story for philosophy classes!

The king really had some things wrong with his system, though...were there really no women criminals? Or would they get the choice between a tiger or man?

If you were married to any criminal in this "court" you'd have to say goodbye regardless, and pack your moving bags.

The lesson of the day--actions have consequences.

[Carla Remy]

This a fun, fairy tale like story which leaves the ending up to the reader. Ok.

[Manuel Alfonseca]

ENGLISH: Nine stories by Stockton. Five of them also appear in the other two collections I have read. The best are: "The Lady & the Tiger", his most famous story, and "Our story", with a surprising ending. The latter belongs only to this collection.

ESPAÑOL: Nueve relatos de Stockton. Cinco de ellos aparecen también en las otras dos colecciones que he leído. Los mejores son: "The Lady & the Tiger", su relato más famoso, y "Our story", con un final sorprendente. Este último sólo está en esta colección.

[Kiara]

Kiara Santiago

This Review is from “Lady or the Tiger’’.

In "lady and the Tiger" the author frank Stockton allows his readers to go back in time when kings and queens and princesses was popular then a president. Where there was no courts like today to find justice instead there was arenas where you got what you deserved as the king says. You had to choose from two doors and whatever you got it was what you will get as a punishment either the hungry tiger that would eat you a live or the beautiful princess that you will have to marry. This story is not only about love and jealousy is also about trust. It leaves you thinking about what will happen next and what will be his choice and what would he want to do. It relates to use as people when we have to choose between two things in life and sometimes we end up taking a risk of many challenges. This story is great and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in a story that you can relate to. Love and jealousy are two strong feelings and emotions. That lead to one another by the actions you take in life. I believe that this story is one that you can begin with and relate to like everyone else can .

[Marianeliis]

In my English class, we read a short story call “The lady or the tiger “by Frank Stockton. The author makes the reader imagine himself in the same position as the protagonist. By using seriously and provoking situation where no one wants to be involved, Frank makes the reader go through stong emotions as serious events take place in the story. I recommend this story to anyone that likes to feel anxious about the ending of the story, or anyone that wants to feel the frustration that someone can have when it's time to make a choice. The author makes the story more interesting by not making an ending to it. The lady or the tiger is a story that would make you think about how strong the meaning of "love" and jealousy" is.

[James]

Enchanting and delightful.

[Beka]

A good number of these stories seemed slightly familiar, so I suspect I might have read it before. Though the title story and its sequel weren't really to my taste (I'm not particularly a fan of short stories that leave the ending up to interpretation.), the rest were alright.

[Sushmira Ramos]

Lady and Tiger
By: Sushmira Ramos

In my class we read this book called ‘Lady or Tiger”. It is really interesting.This book its about a princes and a young poor man.They are in love but the kings forbits them to be together.The king takes the por man to the arena.The man has to open one door.There are two doors one with the tiger and one with the beautiful lady. He has to marry the woman if he gets her.If he gets the tiger ,the tiger will kill him.Of course he want to get the woman.The princess knew where was the tiger and the lady.But the thing is that the princess hates the beautiful woman behind the doors.We don’t really know what happen.
But I recommended this story to a lot of people specially to a class.I recommended to a class because they will discuss it in class.I know that they will like it because I liked it and I don’t like to read I know they will like it too.

[Katherine]

This story is a very old story, throughout the years this story has been known by much reader. The story “Lady or Tiger” is a very popular book, and before I read this book I will love to know if this story is very interesting, although according to many others it is. After I read this story, I liked what is it about and the theme of the story like “love” and “hatred” however I also disdain this story because the ending of this story was very indecisive, and unfinished. I don't think that other people will appreciate this story, so I do not recommend this story to anyone, only because of the end of the story. People can get upset and angry because they feel like they read this long story just to have an unfinished ending that’s not interesting. Also no one likes to have conclusions in their heads, and predict was going to happen at the end, they would actually love to know what would happen finally.

[Gustavo]

The book "The Lady and The Tiger and other Short Stories" is a book that I highly recommend to critical thinkers and people who know how ironic a writing piece can be. However,if you're not these kind of people I also recommend it to you because this short story is quite multifaceted in many ways. Stockton's short stories are assuredly explicit and entertaining. Stockton's works are based on ethical questions that affect the plot course. For example when the princess signal the young man to open the door at his right, the reader is encountered with the ethical question of Should a person seek another person's final demise even if it can seek that person's salvation? Furthermore, "The lady or the Tiger and other Short Stories" is a well known and praised book of short stories. This short story in special is quite simple but raise some serious ethical questions.

[Raquel]

The story "Lady or The Tiger", revolves a woman and her difficult decisions. I would have liked to know the ending of the story, I would have wish that the end had a development at the conclusion that was more clear. Then also, what happened with the princess and the king, and the other woman, maybe if she got married and had children.
I recommend this history, because it revolves around the love and the people like to read stories about love. All people are most interested, the communication media, and try to make love popular. The story is intriguing and gives emotion know the ending. One has to illuminate and understand for himself what that story means. The author shows the public the main point of the story which was love. This story is a little confusing because it has no end and the part middle did not have agile development.

[Melky]

The story the "lady or the tiger" revolves around how love can lead to obsession and jealousy. A grate story the illustrate the weird possession of these characters. Frank Stockton illuminate how the princes uses her anger and prefers to kill the lover or her life to not be shared by anyone else. Filled with jealousy.Before i read this story, the lady or the tiger represented a fairytale an journey. This story can be really recommended because of its challenges the author gives the reader. Fallowing every step of the story in the raisin action the king isolates , and makes the princes love as a prisoner to make him choose from two doors , which his future can be determine by a second.

[Louis]

This story the "Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton was a nice story because of its jealousy in the story. Second the settings takes place in medieval times. Is mostly about a Princes who falls in love with a guy who is poor. However her father got mad and put him in jail and they gave him a punishment; one door is the tiger and the other is a woman. Who he second has to marry it is pretty much about how they treat each other and what kind of punishment they gave back then. I would recommend this story to people who is into medieval times and like old stories and short this is the one for you guys.

[Edwin Mateo]

In the story "Lady or Tiger" there were many actions that were interesting in the story. This short story has one of the most incomplete and annoying endings that I have ever seen. The story is mostly about the young man, queen, and the king. The young man was the victim because he wanted to get married with the king's daughter. He was forced to pick in between two doors; in one there was a lady and if he opened the right one he will have to get married with her, however, if it was the tiger, he will get killed by it. I will recommend this story to someone who like a little mystery or who like to figure out actions or conclusions of a story because of the way this story ends.

[TrumanCoyote]

Well, of course there's "Lady Or the Tiger"--your basic classic and most unorthodox--maybe something like one of Hawthorne's "thought experiment" stories. "The Transferred Ghost" was funny--and the ending very sweet, a sudden shift--like that Zelazny story "Comet Wine" (or whatever it was called) about going back in time and redressing a wrong. The "Thomas Hyke" shipwreck one quite good--and indeed original (and possible?). "His Wife's Deceased Sister" very wry--we'll assume the analogous story is "Tiger." The final line is a hoot--about locking up the great story he's written till after his death: "The reputation it may give my name cannot harm me then."

[Sneh Pradhan]

"The Lady or the Tiger" was a story I had first read when I was 14 , as a part of my schol syllabus , but the story has remained with me ever since . Its a riveting story based in the medieval era in the company of Roman gladiators and gory bloodfests . The story revolves around the basic human themes of "love" and "jealousy" and deftly reveals the power of these two primal emotions in the the day-to-day drama of life . Especially likeable by those who love taut suspense that leaves you guessing till the very end . But the writer makes this story even more enigmatic by leaving the choice to the reader at the end . A rare treat , indeed !

[J.L. Rallios]

This collection of stories -- and particularly this writer -- surprised me. I normally don't care much for short stories, but I had this book on my shelf for so long that I figured I'd give them a try. I am very glad I did. Frank Stockton's fairy tales were a great discovery and a delightful read. My favorite is "The Griffin and the Minor Canon," but it's a close call with most of the other stories. "Ting-a-ling" stories were fun and "The Sisters Three and the Kilmaree" was excellent. All of them showed what a great storyteller he was -- and what an imagination! Highly recommended for the young and young at heart alike!

[Satyabrata Mishra]

Though it may be shelved with children's books, Frank R.Stockton dishes out stories even adults will love. The language may be simple but the stories are worth a read. The tiger or the lady is his most discussed story simply because it has no ending. Almost all his stories end in a whimsical nook much like Roald Dahl.

[Theresa]

4.5

[~:The N:~]

I have rated this book hours ago but here I'm still thinking: if I were the princess, what would I do?

[Lexi]

Always a favorite.

[Susan]

I'm ambivalent about this book after the first reading, and still need to think about all the implications...

[Tori Veltkamp]

I like how the general story covers the majority of the basic angles people could take to decide the outcome. For my first time doing a logic puzzle like this it was fun.

[Maddie]

This story made me angry

[Charles]

I clearly remember reading the title story of this collection in my eighth-grade language arts class. A few of the girls hated it because they didn’t know the ending and were not shy about expressing their opinions. Explanations as to that being the point of the story did not change their opinions at all. Finally, with a gleam in her eye, the teacher announced that we would read “The Discourager of Hesitancy: A Continuation of ‘The Lady of the Tiger’.” The class, as we all wanted to know what had happened, eagerly received that announcement. There was great disappointment in all of us when we realized that there was to be no resolution and the situation was made worse by the second unresolved ending.
To make things a little better, the teacher then had each of us write our own ending to both stories. To date, this remains the most interesting writing assignment I have ever received, the level of interest and energy in the class for this assignment was the highest I have ever seen.
Stockton was a masterful storyteller, he takes what would otherwise be slightly absurd circumstances and turns them into stories that grab and hold your attention. The only downside, and it is a slight one, is that you need to know a little about the social mores of the time the stories were written. Stockton wrote them right before the start of the twentieth century, so his descriptions of the interactions between single men and single women are proper for the time but seem strange to the modern reader.
The stories in this collection are:

*) The Lady of the Tiger?
*) The Griffin and the Minor Canon
*) Love Before Breakfast
*) “His Wife’s Deceased Sister”
*) Our Story
*) Mr. Tolman
*) Our Archery Club
*) The Discourager of Hesitancy

each and every one of them is a gem.

[JoAnne Styger]

The short story The Lady or the Tiger was really good, but the others included in this work couldn’t keep my interest.