The Fable of the Woman and the Snake

Come near and hear an ancient tale retold by an old tongue in an young head.

A woman on her way home from the village in the winter spied a snake lying wounded and freezing in the grass on the roadside.

As she approached it gasped out a single warning. "Take care, for I am an adder."

The woman, overcome with compassion for the poor creature, ripped off a bit of her cloak and bound its wounds, then carried it towards her home against her bosom, where her body's heat could aid the health of the beast.

As they neared her home, the snake was revived by the warmth of the woman's body and struck out instinctively, sinking his fangs deep into her breast.

As the woman's vision faded and she collapsed into the dust, she asked the snake for a reason. As he slithered away into the grass by the roadside, the snake left a long wet trail of tears behind, and only cried out "Foolish woman! You knew I was a snake when you decided to carry me."