Bugs of India

Trapped in a net in depths of the Indian Madhav Forest, a large lion is desperately trying to free himself.

Luckily for him, a sole duck came waddling by.

The lion begged, "Hey pal! Cut me down out of this net. Please! I beg of ya. I won't harm you. I just want to be free. I'd be indebted to you forever!"

The duck knew of the danger, but the idea of having a tiger for a slave was too good to refuse. So, the duck flew up to the rope holding the tiger in the net and untied it.

The moment the lion fell out of the trap he snatched the duck with his paws and said, "You fool, what is to stop me from eating you now?"

The duck took a big nervous swallow, put on glasses and replied, "You wouldn't eat a guy with glasses would ya?"

At that moment a rabbit emerged from the ground with a map and stated, "I knew I should have taken a left at Albuquerque."

The duck screamed, "BUGS! Buddy, you got to help me out here! This lion is going to eat me."

Bugs inquired, "And how did this happen, Daffy?"

"Well, I was strolling along, minding my own business, and this poor fella was stuck in that net over there. Out of the goodness and selflessness of my heart I released him," Daffy proudly stated.

The lion retorted, "That's not true! You only released me because I promised to serve you. You wanted to have the power that came with enslaving a lion. That selfishness is what moved you to let me free and is what will cost you your life."

Bugs chimed in, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, big fella. Let's just go back to the beginning and go from there. How did you get trapped in the net?"

"I was walking in the forest and there was a piece of meat on the ground. When I went over to eat it, a net emerged from around my feet and hoisted me into the air."

Bugs seemed confused and asked, "But how did it hold you in the air?"

The lion's agitation and impatience grew, and he roared, "The net was tied to that rope in the tree!"

However, Bugs was still perplexed. "But, the rope isn't attached to the net now? How do I know you're telling the truth?"

The furious lion yelled, "I'll show you, you idiot!!!" and he proceeded to reassemble the trap.

Bugs was still curious as ever though, and asked, "And where is it you stepped that set it off?"

The lion declared, "Right here, you moron!"

At that moment, the lion stepped on the trigger and was once again hoisted into the air and trapped into the net.

Daffy ran over and joyfully hollered, "You did it, Bugsy, you saved my life!" Daffy hugged Bugs and repeatedly thanked him.

Bugs calmly replied, "Now, what is it I heard about owing one's life to their savior?"

Daffy's eyes narrowed and he muttered, "You're despicable."


(Image of Bugs Bunny cowering in a hold: credit to Kassy on sketchport)

Author's Note: The original story, “Tricksters: Tiger, Braham, and Jackal,” immediately reminded me of Bugs Bunny. In the original story, a man comes across a tiger trapped inside a cage. The tiger begs to be released and the man obliges. The tiger then threatens to kill the man. Confused by this the man goes on to ask a tree, a road, and a jackal what he did wrong. The tree and road state the man shouldn’t have trusted the tiger. But the jackal plays dumb and asks him many questions about what happened. Irritated, the man brings the jackal to the tiger to have the tiger explain. But the jackal tricks the tiger back into its cage by playing dumb asking him to explain everything over and over. Eventually, the tiger becomes so annoyed by this constant questioning, he decides to show the jackal how he got into the cage and puts himself back in it.

Time and time again throughout many episodes of Looney Tunes, Bugs uses his wit to escape or beat a wide variety of foes. He usually does so by tricking them into hurting or sabotaging themselves. So, I replaced the Brahman with Daffy, the jackal with Bugs, and the tiger with a lion. I'm not sure why, but a lion just seemed to fit better with Bugs and Daffy. I left the part about the tree and the road out, because to me, that did not seem to fit with the Bugs Bunny theme.

Bibliography. "Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal" - from Indian Fairy Tales - Tale by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.

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