The story begins with a description of a king who ruled long ago. The king is somewhat barbaric in his rule, but he is also calm and genial to his subjects. Only slightly influenced by the Romans, who ruled nearby, this king did not have gladiator battles or killings of religious prisoners in his amphitheater to amuse his subjects. Instead, this king conducted criminal trials there, and in a very distinctive way. These trials were very popular in his kingdom.

The king’s amphitheater contained two doors. Behind one door was a tiger, and behind the other was a lady. Whenever a man was accused of committing a crime, he was sent into the amphitheater to choose one of the two doors. If he chose the door with the tiger behind it, he died a gruesome death at its claws and teeth, and was therefore deemed guilty of the crime. If he chose the door with the lady, he was deemed innocent and was married to the lady then and there by a waiting priest. It didn’t matter if the man was already married, since the king demanded his own form of reward be enacted regardless of the newly innocent man’s circumstances.

At a certain time, the king becomes aware of a scandal involving his own daughter, the princess, and he finds that she is in engaged in a love affair with a young man of low social standing. In the king’s eyes, this is a crime of the highest order, and he demands the trial of her lover in the usual fashion. This time, the most ferocious tiger that could be found is put behind one door, and the most beautiful lady in the kingdom behind the other. The crowds are massive, and even those who cannot gain access to the amphitheater press inward to catch a glimpse of the trial.

The princess, being in love with the young man on trial, has discovered which door holds the tiger and which holds the lady. She also knows that the lady is one from the king’s court, and one whom she hates for her amorous attention to the princess’s lover. The princess becomes viciously jealous at the thought of the woman anxiously awaiting her marriage to the young man. 

At the trial, the young man enters the amphitheater in the usual way and bows to the king. But as he does so, he looks to the princess for some kind of sign about which door he should choose, suspecting that she has used her influence to find out which door holds which fate. The princess makes a quick gesture to the right, and the young man goes directly to open the door on the right. But it is not known which fate the princess has chosen for him and for herself. On the one hand, she may have saved his life but also condemned herself to endure the heartbreak of seeing him happily married to another woman. On the other hand, she may have chosen his brutal death, which they will both suffer through but will eventually enjoy a reunion in the afterlife.

The story ends without revealing what was behind the door on the right. The question is left to the audience of the story: Did the princess choose life or death for her lover?

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