 The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton, many, many years ago, lived in a strange country, a king who had different ideas than most kings, whereas most kings used a column seum or throwing people, such as Christians to the lions or having them fight each other, such as gladiators. This king thought of something better, something more intellectually challenging to the people in that country. The king devised an arena with enclosed seating, and whereas at any time a person was arrested for misconduct or accused of a crime, the king would have that person in the arena and would summon the people to assemble, and the king would sit high up on the throne, and in front of the king were two doors, just opposite of him, and they were the exact same two doors. Behind one door was a tiger, a ferocious beast, the meanest in all the land. Behind the second door was a beautiful damsel. The person who was arrested would be placed in jail and then brought to the arena, and the king would order the prisoner to choose a door. If the prisoner chose the door and out came the ferocious lion, the prisoner would be torn to pieces in an instance, and that result would show that the person was guilty and deserved that appropriate punishment. However, if the prisoner chose the other door and out came the beautiful damsel, that would prove that he was not guilty, that he was honest, and the king would have that man freed and would allow him to marry the damsel immediately. The king would even have a preacher ready with Bible in hand to marry the two. The king would provide a chorus, all the people would be invited to a feast, the wedding bells rang forth. That was an interesting system of deciding judgment and was very popular with the people because the prisoner would have his own life in his own hands and would prove either he was wrong or right, guilty or innocent. One day it happened that the king had a daughter. She was called the princess. We signed princess. She was quite beautiful. One day she fell in love with a young man who was handsome and brave, but that young man was from a lower class of people, not a member of the nobility. The two of them carried on a secret affair for several months until one day the king found out, found the two of them together and became very angry, didn't like any of the lower subjects to be with his daughter. That was not appropriate. So the king had the young man arrested and thrown in jail. The day was coming when this young man would be brought to the arena and would have to choose a door. The king searched long and hard for the most savage tiger in the world and put the tiger behind one of the doors. The king also searched all over to find the most beautiful damsel and put her behind the other door. It happened that the princess who loved that young man, she found a way, as all women do using their beauty, influence and money. She found out who or what was behind each of the doors. She found out that she knew exactly where the damsel was and where the tiger was. The day arrived for the young man to be brought to the arena and the king sat high on his throne next to him was his daughter and the people, the throngs of people, made their way into the Colosseum, taken their seats to observe which door the young man would choose. Now the people had heard about the secret love affair and about the princess as the young man. So many of them wanted to pay witness to this event. The young man came out and walked into the center of the arena and the people stared. And they said, what a nice, handsome, tall young man in the people gossip. They were not surprised that the princess had fallen in love with him. And so the young man stood in the center of the arena and bowed to the king. And at the same time, he looked over at the king's daughter, his sweetheart. And he knew that she must have found out the secret as to which was behind each of the two doors. And they stared at each other. The princess was thinking, she knew what was behind the door. She knew where the tiger was and where the damsel was. And she knew that this beautiful damsel had once had an interest in that young man. And so she sat there with her arm on the parapet, staring below. And the young man continued to look to see if she would give him an indication as to which door he should chose. And she gestured with her right hand, pointing to a door and smiling. And the young man knew at that instant that none of the people in the stands saw this exchange, what the princess had done. And so she gestured and smiled. And the young man nodded and walked to the right door and opened the door. Now, the question for you, what came out of that door? Was it the tiger or was it the lady? The lady or the tiger? You must remember that the princess was a young woman and she loved that young man. And in her dream, she must have thought about this young man in the arms of that beautiful damsel. Watching him kiss and give attention and eventually marry the young damsel. Also in her dream, she must have thought if the tiger pops out and tears her lover to pieces. And here's his screaming and the flesh being torn and the blood gushing from his wounds and the tigers just mauling him. What would be better? It would be better for that young man to die at that instant, but all the blood, the gore, the screaming, how terrible would that be? Now, let me ask you, what came out of that door? The lady or the tiger?