The Tale of a Tiger | |
Orig Lang: | Italian |
The Tale of a Tiger (Italian: La storia della tigre) is a dramatic monologue by Dario Fo. Fo collected material for it during a June 1975 visit to China with his wife Franca Rame and other members of their theatre company, and he toured around Italy with it in 1978.[1] [2]
During Mao's Long March across China, a revolutionary soldier is wounded. His comrades leave him behind. Gangrene sets in, and he believes that he is about to die. He drags himself into a cave and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens, he is confronted by the sight of a tiger and her cub. What follows is a comic narrative about their domestic life together, as the tiger nurses him back to health.[3]
Ed Emery has carried out an authorised English translation.[4]