A woman begged a shaman for a potion that would “make her husband love her again”. She explained that her husband fought in the war, he was warm, loving, and laughed easily. But since his return he was angry, and distant. The more she tried to hug him, and draw him back to her, the worse it became. The shaman was her last hope.
The shaman listened patiently to the woman’s story. When she was finished he said, “I think I can help you. I will make you a love potion, but you must go find one of the ingredients.”. She said she would. He told her that the love potion must contain a whisker from a live tiger. This was the only way he could help make her husband love her again. She was distraught. “How can I possibly get a whisker from a beast as fierce and powerful as a tiger?” The shaman shrugged and left her to tears.
The next day she went to a place where she had once seen a tiger. On that day she saw nothing more that monkeys fighting in the trees and birds flying in the air. On the second day, she stayed a little longer and found a comfortable place to sit. But she did not see the tiger.
Weeks passed. One morning she sensed his presence before she saw him. She didn’t move but the tiger saw her anyway and ran away. It was a week before she saw him again. Curios, the tiger stopped running away.
Finally, after months of bringing the tiger good things to eat and ever so slowly reaching out to pet him, he finally was so comfortable with the woman that he fell asleep under her stroking hand. Once he was asleep she took a very sharp knife and gently cut one single whisker from the tiger’s muzzle.
The next day she brought the whisker to the shaman, and asked for the potion that would make her husband love her again. The shaman said “You do not need any potion. Throw away the whisker, keep the knowledge you have gained, and your husband will learn to love you once more.”
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