“The Lady or the Tiger” is one of the most anthologized short stories for adolescents and teens, often appearing in literature collections and possessing a unique place in the short story genre:  it leaves the ending to the reader, or the listener, in our case.  The plot is left unresolved.  A great resource for spurring classroom discussions, the tale presents just enough evidence for the solution of the narrator’s riddle at the end of the story.  Or does it?

If you remember this story from your own education, it might be fun to peruse the contrast between your opinion then and your present, more mature and, perhaps, more sophisticated point of view.  Have fun and enjoy it.

What many people familiar with “The Lady or the Tiger” don’t know is that Frank Stockton wrote a sequel to his story entitled “The Discourager of Hesitancy.” We include it here following the first story for your enjoyment and amusement.

And now, “The Lady or the Tiger?” and “The Discourager of Hesitancy” by Frank R. Stockton…we begin….