Every day, the farmer would lead his buffalo to plow the fields. The buffalo walked ahead, pulling the heavy plow behind. Even though the work was difficult, the buffalo still happily went to work.
One day, after a long plowing session, while the farmer went to drink some water and the buffalo was grazing, a tiger approached the buffalo and asked, “Hey buffalo, why are you so big and strong, yet you let a small human put a rope through your nose, pull you around, and beat you? Why do you let him control you like that?”
The buffalo replied to the tiger, “Even though the human is small, he has intelligence.”
Just at that moment, the farmer returned. The tiger immediately stopped him and asked, “I heard from the buffalo that although humans are small, they possess intelligence. Where is this intelligence? Show it to me.”
The farmer responded, “My intelligence is at home.”
The tiger said, “Go home and bring it back so I can see.”
The farmer replied, “Sure… but I’m afraid that while I’m away, you might eat my buffalo. What would I do then?”
The tiger, unsure how to respond, remained silent. Seeing this, the farmer said, “How about this: If you’re willing to let me tie you up first, I’ll go home and get my intelligence for you to see.”
The tiger agreed.
The farmer then took a rope and tied the tiger tightly to a tree. After that, he lit a fire around the tiger, saying, “Here’s my intelligence… Here’s my intelligence!”
The buffalo, seeing this, couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed so hard that he rolled on the ground and broke his upper teeth. Since then, buffaloes no longer have upper teeth. As for the tiger, its fur was burned, leaving black stripes as scars—marks left by the fire.
This folktale explains why buffaloes have no upper teeth and why tigers have black stripes, according to Vietnamese folklore. The story conveys the moral that intelligence, rather than brute strength, can lead to victory.
