Description:
From Ozma of Oz (1907):
First came a magnificent golden chariot, drawn by an enormous Lion and an immense Tiger, who stood shoulder to shoulder and trotted along as gracefully as a well-matched team of thoroughbred horses.
…
Just outside the door she came upon the Cowardly Lion, still hitched to the chariot beside the great Tiger. The Cowardly Lion had a big bow of blue ribbon fastened to the long hair between his ears, and the Tiger wore a bow of red ribbon on his tail, just in front of the bushy end.
In an instant Dorothy was hugging the huge Lion joyfully.
“I’m SO glad to see you again!” she cried. “How are you?”
“As cowardly as ever,” the beast answered in a meek voice. “Every little thing scares me and makes my heart beat fast. But let me introduce to you a new friend of mine, the Hungry Tiger.”
“Oh! Are you hungry?” she asked, turning to the other beast, who was just then yawning so widely that he displayed two rows of terrible teeth and a mouth big enough to startle anyone.
“Dreadfully hungry,” answered the Tiger, snapping his jaws together with a fierce click.
“Then why don’t you eat something?” she asked.
“It’s no use,” said the Tiger sadly. “I’ve tried that, but I always get hungry again.”
“How dreadful!” said Dorothy.
“Isn’t it, though?” returned the Hungry Tiger, licking his lips with his long red tongue. “Fat babies! Don’t they sound delicious? But I’ve never eaten any, because my conscience tells me it is wrong. If I had no conscience I would probably eat the babies and then get hungry again, which would mean that I had sacrificed the poor babies for nothing. No; hungry I was born, and hungry I shall die. But I’ll not have any cruel deeds on my conscience to be sorry for.”
“I think you are a very good tiger,” said Dorothy, patting the huge head of the beast.
“In that you are mistaken,” was the reply. “I am a good beast, perhaps, but a disgracefully bad tiger. For it is the nature of tigers to be cruel and ferocious, and in refusing to eat harmless living creatures I am acting as no good tiger has ever before acted. That is why I left the forest and joined my friend the Cowardly Lion.”
“But the Lion is not really cowardly,” said Dorothy. “I have seen him act as bravely as can be.”
“All a mistake, my dear,” protested the Lion gravely. “To others I may have seemed brave, at times, but I have never been in any danger that I was not afraid.”
From Ozma of Oz onward, the Lion and the Tiger often appear together. They pull Ozma’s royal chariot, and when she holds court in her palace, they sit on either side of her throne.
Images (spoilers – click only if you really want to see!):
How W. W. Denslow drew the Cowardly Lion: 1 2
How John R. Neill drew the Lion and Tiger: 1 2 3 4
How Eric Shanower drew the Cowardly Lion: 1
How Skottie Young drew the Lion and Tiger: 1 2
Oz Student Art Contest 