Then Moti continued to shower upon him blows and abuse until the poor tiger could hardly stand , whereupon his tormentor tied the end of the broken halter round his neck and dragged him back to the serai . ` If you had my horse , ' he said , ' I will at least have you , that 's fair enough ! ' And he tied him up securely by the head and heels , much as he used to tie the horse ; then , the night being far gone , he flung himself beside him and slept soundly . You can not imagine anything like the fright of the people in the serai , when they woke up and found a tiger -- very battered but still a tiger -- securely tethered amongst themselves and their beasts ! Men gathered in groups talking and exclaiming , and finding fault with the innkeeper for allowing such a dangerous beast into the serai , and all the while the innkeeper was just as troubled as the rest , and none dared go near the place where the tiger stood blinking miserably on everyone , and where Moti lay stretched out snoring like thunder . At last news reached the king that Moti had exchanged his horse for a live tiger ; and the monarch himself came down , half disbelieving the tale , to see if it were really true . Someone at last awaked Moti with the news that his royal master was come ; and he arose yawning , and was soon delightedly explaining and showing off his new possession . The king , however , did not share his pleasure at all , but called up a soldier to shoot the tiger , much to the relief of all the inmates of the serai except Moti . If the king , however , was before convinced that Moti was one of the wisest of men , he was now still more convinced that he was the bravest , and he increased his pay a hundredfold , so that our hero thought that he was the luckiest of men . A week or two after this incident the king sent for Moti , who on arrival found his master in despair . A neighbouring monarch , he explained , who had many more soldiers than he , had declared war against him , and he was at his wits ' end , for he had neither money to buy him off nor soldiers enough to fight him -- what was he to do ? ` If that is all , do n't you trouble , ' said Moti . ` Turn out your men , and I 'll go with them , and we 'll soon bring this robber to reason . ' The king began to revive at these hopeful words , and took Moti off to his stable where he bade him choose for himself any horse he liked . There were plenty of fine horses in the stalls , but to the king 's astonishment Moti chose a poor little rat of a pony that was used to carry grass and water for the rest of the stable . ` But why do you choose that beast ? ' said the king . ` Well , you see , your majesty , ' replied Moti , ` there are so many chances that I may fall off , and if I choose one of your fine big horses I shall have so far to fall that I shall probably break my leg or my arm , if not my neck , but if I fall off this little beast I ca n't hurt myself much . ' A very comical sight was Moti when he rode out to the war . The only weapon he carried was his staff , and to help him to keep his balance on horseback he had tied to each of his ankles a big stone that nearly touched the ground as he sat astride the little pony .
The rest XXXXX the king 's cavalry were not very numerous , but they pranced along in armour on fine horses .
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