Miao Trapped

As Joko and Wefa’s children grew up, Miao grew bored. Nothing was a challenge for her anymore. She grew lazy, and sometimes slept for days at a time. Joko’s children grew up skinny and hungry like he did, and he grew angry again. It wasn’t fair for Miao to be so selfish and lazy when so many humans depended on her. If they could only hunt for themselves, it wouldn’t be a problem, but humans were born without sharp claws, and their teeth couldn’t do the same damage that the cat's fangs could. Maybe if he trapped Miao, he could force her to hunt for them somehow.

So Joko went about creating a trap for Miao. He watched spiders in their webs and learned to make rope. One day when she was deep asleep in a low hanging branch of a tree, he looped a rope around her neck and tied it to a tree. When she woke up and tried to leap away, she only served to tighten the rope further, making it impossible for her to escape. She screamed in anger and swiped at the ropes, but was unable to slice through the dried braided hemp. Joko approached Miao cautiously as she stalked back and forth in front of the tree, pacing angrily and trying to escape.

“I’ve caught you, Great Miao, and for your freedom, you must teach me how to hunt so I can provide for my family.” Miao roared at him in reply, but he didn’t back down.

Realizing she wasn’t going to scare him off, she finally replied. “How would I teach you to hunt, human? You have no claws, no sharp teeth. You can’t run as fast as I, and you can’t climb a tree like me. You can’t see in the dark, and your reflexes are laughable. What would you have me do?”

“I can make myself sharp claws from rocks. I can make fire to see at night. I can use rope to climb a tree and my teeth may not be as sharp as yours, but my jaws are plenty strong. Teach me and I will free you.”

“No. I don’t think I will. You may have caught me, human, but you will never be me.” With that, Miao climbed back to her tree branch and promptly fell asleep. This time Joko roared in anger.

Over the next few days, Joko brought water in a dish for Miao to drink and every day she knocked it over with her huge paw before taking a sip. He brought her the leftover jerky they had from a kill she had made, but she turned her nose up at it. He even tried to bring fruits they had gathered, but she only batted them around like playthings.