The Farmer and the Snake

It was a bitter cold winter evening. The wind howled through the bare trees, covering the village in a thick blanket of white snow. A kind Farmer was walking home from the market. Ideally, he would have been sitting by his warm fire, but he had to buy medicine for his cow.

As he crunched through the snow, he saw something dark lying on the path. He bent down to look. It was a Snake. The poor creature was frozen stiff with the cold. It was not moving at all. “Oh, poor thing,” thought the Farmer. “It will surely perish in this cold.”

The Farmer knew that snakes could be dangerous, but his heart was too soft to leave a living creature to suffer. “I will just warm him up until he can move,” he decided. He picked up the cold, stiff snake and tucked it inside his thick woolen coat, close to his chest so his body heat would warm it. “You’ll be alright, little one,” he whispered.

He hummed a tune as he walked the rest of the way home. The warmth began to work. Inside the coat, the Snake’s energy began to flow again. His heart beat stronger. Strength returned to his muscles.

When the Farmer reached his house, he sat down by the fireplace. “Now, let’s see how you are,” he said. He opened his coat to let the Snake out comfortably on the rug.

The Snake slid out. He was fully awake now. But instead of being grateful, his natural instincts took over. He was a wild creature, and he was frightened and confused. He saw the Farmer reaching out a hand to stroke him. Hiss! The Snake coiled swiftly, hood raised, and snapped his jaws at the Farmer’s hand!

The Farmer pulled his hand back just in time! “Whoa!” cried the Farmer. “I saved your life, and you try to bite me?” The Snake hissed again, swaying back and forth, ready to strike. It wasn’t being evil; it was just being a snake. It saw a movement and reacted with fear and aggression.

The Farmer sighed. He was a wise man. He realized his mistake. “I expected you to act like a grateful human,” he said softly to the snake. “But you are a wild serpent. You cannot change your nature. You bite because that is what you do when you are scared.”

He didn’t hurt the snake. Instead, he carefully used a long broomstick to guide the snake into a large basket. He covered the basket and walked out to the edge of the forest, far away from his house and the village. He tipped the basket over gently. “Go on,” said the Farmer. “Live your life in the wild where you belong. But do not come back to my house.”

The snake slithered away into the undergrowth. The Farmer walked back to his warm fire, safe and sound. He had done a good deed, but he had also learned a valuable lesson.

Moral of the Story: Kindness is noble, but wisdom is necessary. Do not expect others to change their nature just because you are kind to them.