secretly feed him opium, I know not!

"I left the palace, noting with amusement that the royal umbrella
and panoplied coach were now missing.

"The following week I methodically prepared my mind and body for
the coming ordeal. Through my servant I learned of fantastic tales.
The saint's direful prediction to my father had somehow got abroad,
enlarging as it ran. Many simple villagers believed that an evil
spirit, cursed by the gods, had reincarnated as a tiger which took
various demoniac forms at night, but remained a striped animal
during the day. This demon-tiger was supposed to be the one sent
to humble me.

"Another imaginative version was that animal prayers to Tiger
Heaven had achieved a response in the shape of Raja Begum. He was
to be the instrument to punish me-the audacious biped, so insulting
to the entire tiger species! A furless, fangless man daring
to challenge a claw-armed, sturdy-limbed tiger! The concentrated
venom of all humiliated tigers-the villagers declared-had gathered
momentum sufficient to operate hidden laws and bring about the fall
of the proud tiger tamer.

"My servant further apprized me that the prince was in his element
as manager of the bout between man and beast. He had supervised
the erection of a storm-proof pavilion, designed to accommodate
thousands. Its center held Raja Begum in an enormous iron cage,
surrounded by an outer safety room. The captive emitted a ceaseless
series of blood-curdling roars. He was fed sparingly, to kindle a
wrathful appetite. Perhaps the prince expected me to be the meal