The Farmer and the Snake
One winter day, a farmer found a snake by the roadside, stiff and motionless with cold.
"If you put me inside your shirt," the snake said, "your body will make me warm and I won't freeze to death."
"Oh, I know your kind," replied the farmer. "If I pick you up, you will bite me."
"Oh no," the snake objected. "Why would I do such a thing, if you are good enough to help me?"
So the farmer had compassion on the snake, and taking it up, he put it inside his shirt. The warmth quickly revived the snake, and resuming its natural instincts, it bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound. "Oh," cried the farmer with his last breath, "why did you bite me? You promised you wouldn't."
"Ah," said the snake. "So I did. But you knew I was a snake when you picked me up."
I have been thinking about this tale and the lessons it may teach (several of them). What do you get from it?
MaryMartha
I found this post to my life at the present time. I would like to print this post. Even though I can print other posts, I cannot print this post. What can I do to print this post.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteYou can highlight the post or the portion of it you want to print, copy it(ctrl C on a PC),then open your word-processing program and paste it in.
Or, I'll be glad to email it to you if you will send me your address via my email under "contact" in my complete profile. Thanks for reading. MM
I was looking for this exact story. I thought I remembered that in the bible there is a quote that says "you knew I was a snake" , but I can't find it anwhere. I heard it when I was growing up and now in college I was telling someone at school about that quote and she questioned me in disbelief. Am I correct for saying it is in the bible? If so, can you direct me to the correct book and verse? thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon.,
ReplyDeleteNo, it isn't in the Bible, but is an old story--maybe one of Aesop's fables, told in many ways, sometimes with a woman finding the snake. I can think of Scripture that illustrates it though, like Samson and Delilah, for example, or the command not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. The story cautions us to be careful about situations and our relationships, not to override our better judgment and suffer a "bite." Thanks for reading. MM
Heard the story with a rodent instead of a man. The snake wanted to cross the river and asked a beaver but the beaver said no cause you will bite me. The snake said if I did we both would drown. After reaching the other side the snake bit him. The beaver said, why? The snake said you knew I was a snake.
ReplyDeleteHi Harry,
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I've heard it too with various animals, maybe even with a fox and some other small creature. It apparently has been told in many ways. Thanks for reminding us how widely this fable is used. Thanks for stopping by! MM
I think the moral of the story is, "don't trust a snake". Does that pretty much sum it up? LOL
ReplyDelete