A young girl was trudging along a mountain path, trying to reach her grandmother's house. It was bitter cold, and the wind cut like a knife. When she was within sight of her destination, she heard a rustle at her feet.
Looking down, she saw a snake. Before she could move, the snake spoke to her. He said, "I am about to die. It is too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food in these mountains, and I am starving. Please put me under your coat and take me with you."
"No," replied the girl. "I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite me, and your bite is poisonous.”
"No, no," said the snake. "If you help me, you will be my best friend. I will treat you differently."
The little girl sat down on a rock for a moment to rest and think things over. She looked at the beautiful markings on the snake and had to admit that it was the most beautiful snake she had ever seen.
Suddenly, she said, "I believe you. I will save you. All living things deserve to be treated with kindness."
The little girl reached over, put the snake gently under her coat and proceeded toward her grandmother's house.
Within a moment, she felt a sharp pain in her side. The snake had bitten her.
"How could you do this to me?" she cried. "You promised that you would not bite me, and I trusted you!"
"You knew what I was when you picked me up," hissed the snake as he slithered away.
So what is the moral of this fable? Don't pick up snakes I guess. Or perhaps, don't walk to your grandmothers house in the freezing cold? Don't look down when you hear rustling? Look before you leap? Oh, I think it is in the last line, don't complain if you knew what you were doing?
Jill says rattlesnakes hibernate during winter and if it were hibernating it wouldn't be talking. I guess it would talk otherwise. Also if a nearby hospital has anti-venom it really isn't a big deal if it bites you, so long as you are a healthy individual. But what if you aren't healthy? Ah ha.
There was a song about this which you can listen to if you are so inclined and have nothing better to do (I love this YouTube thing & yes I do need more to do).
Not a filing cabinet, maybe half a drawer?
Robin, the lonely blog mistress
4 comments:
C'est dans la nature de choses - It is in the nature of things.
I like the story a lot. Another version I've heard of this goes something like, "A young girl was truding along a mountain path toward her grandmother's house. When she was within site of her destination she heard a rustling at her feet; a snake lay coiled up seeking warmth from the bitter cold.
"Upon looking down and seeing the snake, she exclaimed, 'Oh what a pretty kitten.'"
So was the snake really a kitten or could the girl not see well? I'm a little confused.
We see what we want to see. In our desire to delude ourselves we can look at a deadly snake and see a sweet kitten. Which I'm sure you understood despite your comment.
I'm sticking my tongue out at you.
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