Inside Again [Europa's Fairy Book]
A man was walking through the forest one
day when he saw a funny black thing like a whip wriggling about under a big
stone. He was curious to know what it all meant. So he lifted up the stone and
found there a huge black snake.
"That's well," said the snake.
"I have been trying to get out for two days, and, Oh, how hungry I am. I
must have something to eat, and there is nobody around, so I must eat
you."
"But that wouldn't be fair,"
said the man with a trembling voice. "But for me you would never have come
out from under the stone."
"I do not care for that," said
the snake. "Self-preservation is the first law of life; you ask anybody if
that isn't so."
"Any one will tell you," said
the man, "that gratitude is a person's first duty, and surely you owe me
thanks for saving your life."
"But you haven't saved my life, if I
am to die of hunger," said the snake.
"Oh yes, I have," said the man;
"all you have to do is to wait till you find something to eat."
"Meanwhile I shall die, and what's
the use of being saved!"
So they disputed and they disputed
whether the case was to be decided by the claims of gratitude or the rights of
self-preservation, till they did not know what to do.
"I tell you what I'll do," said
the snake, "I'll let the first passer-by decide which is right."
"But I can't let my life depend upon
the word of the first comer."
"Well, we'll ask the first two that
pass by."
"Perhaps they won't agree,"
said the man; "what are we to do then? We shall be as badly off as we are
now."
"Ah, well," said the snake,
"let it be the first three. In all law courts it takes three judges to
make a session. We'll follow the majority of votes."
So they waited till at last there came
along an old, old horse. And they put the case to him, whether gratitude should
ward off death.
"I don't see why it should,"
said the horse. "Here have I been slaving for my master for the last
fifteen years, till I am thoroughly worn out, and only this morning I heard him
say, 'Roger'—that's my name—'is no use to me any longer; I shall have to send
him to the knacker's and get a few pence for his hide and his hoofs.' There's
gratitude for you."
So the horse's vote was in favour of the
snake. And they waited till at last an old hound passed by limping on three
legs, half blind with scarcely any teeth. So they put the case to him.
"Look at me," said he; "I
have slaved for my master for ten years, and this very day he has kicked me out
of his house because I am no use to him any longer, and he grudged me a few
bones to eat. So far as I can see nobody acts from gratitude."
"Well," said the snake,
"there's two votes for me. What's the use of waiting for the third? he's
sure to decide in my favour, and if he doesn't it's two to one. Come here and
I'll eat you!"
"No, no," said the man, "a
bargain's a bargain; perhaps the third judge will be able to convince the other
two and my life will be saved."
So they waited and they waited, till at
last a fox came trotting along; and they stopped him and explained to him both
sides of the case. He sat up and scratched his left ear with his hind paw, and
after a while he beckons the man to come near him. And when he did so the fox
whispered,
"What will you give me if I get you
out of this?"
The man whispered back, "A pair of
fat chickens."
"Well," said the fox, "if
I am to decide this case I must clearly understand the situation. Let me see!
If I comprehend aright, the man was lying under the stone and the snake——"
"No, no," cried out the horse
and the hound and the snake. "It was the other way."
"Ah, ha, I see! The stone was
rolling down and the man sat on it, and then——"
"Oh, how stupid you are," they
all cried; "it wasn't that way at all."
"Dear me, you are quite right. I am
very stupid, but, really, you haven't explained the case quite clearly to
me."
"I'll show you," said the
snake, impatient from his long hunger; and he twisted himself again under the
stone and wriggled his tail till at last the stone settled down upon him and he
couldn't move out. "That's the way it was."
"And that's the way it will
be," said the fox, and, taking the man's arm, he walked off, followed by
the horse and the hound. "And now for my chickens."
"I'll go and get them for you,"
said the man, and went up to his house, which was near, and told his wife all
about it.
"But," she said, "why
waste a pair of chickens on a foxy old fox! I know what I'll do."
So she went into the back yard and
unloosed the dog and put it into a meal-bag and gave it to the man, who took it
down and gave it to the fox, who trotted off with it to his den.
But when he opened the bag out sprung the
dog and gobbled him all up.
There's gratitude for you.
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