Ajamil and the Tigers
Ajamil wasn't a fool
Explain Ajamil's pretence and the satire on political life.
The tiger king tells Ajamil a lie: they were only coming to visit him as friends. The honest sheep dog signals frantically to his master that this is not true.
But Ajamil will not meet the dog's eyes. He pretends to believe every word the tiger says.
He frees the tigers, gives them a good dinner, signs a treaty of friendship with them, and sends them home with gifts of sheep, leather and wool.
Ajamil is no fool. He knows that tigers must eat. If they are fed, they will leave his flock alone, and he can play his flute all day, while tigers and sheep drink side by side from one pond.
The poem is a fable and a satire. It mocks politicians who buy peace by feeding the powerful with the lives of the weak.
Peace bought with sheep: politics as a deal.
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