Would you rather......

[rwanger]

I'll go with burned because it would be easier to accept my fate. With the tiger, I'd feel like I could fight my way out of it, which would only lead to extra stress in those last few minutes.

However if there was a hypothetical chance of escape from each situation, I'd take the tiger hands down. It would be much cooler to say that you survived by fighting a tiger than it would to say you untied yourself from a stake at the last minute.