ONCE upon a time, a snake went out of his hole to take an airing. He
crawled about, greatly enjoying the scenery and the fresh whiff of the
breeze, until, seeing an open door, he went in. Now this door was the
door of the palace of the King, and inside was the King himself, with
all his courtiers.
Imagine their horror at seeing a huge Snake crawling in at the door.
They all ran away except the King, who felt that his rank forbade him to
be a coward, and the King's son. The King called out for somebody to
come and kill the Snake; but this horrified them still more, because in
that country the people believed it to be wicked to kill any living
thing, even snakes, and scorpions, and wasps. So the courtiers did
nothing, but the young Prince obeyed his father, and killed the Snake
with his stick.
After a while the Snake's wife became anxious, and set out in search of
her husband. She too saw the open door of the palace, and in she went. O
horror! there on the floor lay the body of her husband, all covered
with blood, and quite dead. No one saw the Snake's wife crawl in; she
inquired from a white ant what had happened, and when she found that the
young Prince had killed her husband, she made a vow, that as he had made
her a widow, so she would make his wife a widow.
That night, while all the world was asleep, the Snake crept into the
Prince's bedroom, and coiled around his neck. The Prince slept on, and
when he awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find his neck
encircled with the coils of a Snake. He was afraid to stir, so there he
remained, until the Prince's mother became anxious, and went to see what
was the matter. When she entered his room, and saw him in this plight,
she gave a loud shriek, and ran off to tell the King.
"Call the archers," said the King. The archers came, and the King told
them to go into the Prince's room, and shoot the Snake that was coiled
about his neck. They were so clever, that they could easily do this
without hurting the Prince at all.
In came the archers in a row, fitted the arrows to the bows, the bows
were raised ready to shoot, when, on a sudden, from the Snake there
issued a voice, which spoke as follows:--
"O archers! wait, and hear me before you shoot. It is not fair to carry
out the sentence before you have heard the case. Is not this good law,
an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth? Is it not so, O King?"
"Yes," replied the King, "that is our law."
"Then," said the Snake, "I plead the law. Your son has made me a widow,
so it is fair and right that I should make his wife a widow."
"That sounds right enough," said the King, "but right and law are not
always the same thing. We had better ask somebody who knows."
They asked all the judges, but none of them could tell the law of the
matter. They shook their heads, and said they would look up all their
law-books, and see whether anything of the sort had ever happened
before, and if so, how it had been decided. That is the way judges used
to decide cases in that country, though I daresay it sounds to you a
very funny way. It looked as if they had not much sense in their own
heads, and perhaps that was true. The upshot of all was, that not a
judge would give any opinion; so the King sent messengers all over the
country-side, to see if they could find somebody somewhere who knew
something.
One of these messengers found a party of five Shepherds, who were
sitting upon a hill and trying to decide a quarrel of their own. They
gave their opinions so freely, and in language so very strong, that the
King's messenger said to himself, "Here are the men for us. Here are
five men, each with an opinion of his own, and all different."
Post-haste he scurried back to the King, and told him he had found at
last some one ready to judge the knotty point.
So the King and the Queen, and the Prince and the Princess, and all the
courtiers, got on horseback, and away they galloped to the hill
whereupon the five Shepherds were sitting, and the Snake too went with
them, coiled round the neck of the Prince.
When they got to the Shepherds' hill, the Shepherds were dreadfully
frightened. At first they thought that the strangers were a gang of
robbers; and when they saw that it was the King, their next thought was
that one of their misdeeds had been found out, and each of them began
thinking what was the last thing he had done, and wondering, was it
that? But the King and his Court got off their horses, and said good-day
in the most civil way. So the Shepherds felt their minds set at ease
again. Then the King said--
"Worthy Shepherds, we have a question to put to you, which not all the
judges in all the courts of my city have been able to solve. Here is my
son, and here, as you see, is a Snake coiled round his neck. Now, the
husband of this Snake came creeping into my palace hall, and my son the
Prince killed him; so this Snake, who is the wife of the other, says
that as my son has made her a widow, so she has a right to widow my
son's wife. What do you think about it?"
The first Shepherd said, "I think she is quite right, my lord King. If
any one made my wife a widow, I would pretty soon do the same to him."
This was brave language, and the other Shepherds shook their heads and
looked fierce. But the King was puzzled, and could not quite understand
it. You see, in the first place, if the man's wife were a widow, the man
would be dead; and then it is hard to see how he could do anything. So
to make sure, the King asked the second Shepherd whether that was his
opinion too?
"Yes," said the second Shepherd; "now the Prince has killed the Snake,
the Snake has a right to kill the Prince, if he can."
But that was not of much use either, as the Snake was as dead as a
door-nail. So the King passed on to the third.
"I agree with my mates," said the third Shepherd, "because, you see, a
Prince is a Prince, but then a Snake is a Snake."
That was quite true, they all admitted; but it did not seem to help the
matter much. Then the King asked the fourth Shepherd to say what he
thought.
The fourth Shepherd said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;
so I think a widow should be a widow, if so be she don't marry again."
[Illustration]
By this time the poor King was so puzzled that he hardly knew whether he
stood on his head or his heels. But there was still the fifth Shepherd
left, the oldest and wisest of them all; and the fifth Shepherd said--
"O King, I should like to ask two questions."
"Ask twenty, if you like," said the King. He did not promise to answer
them, so he could afford to be generous.
"First, I ask the Princess how many sons she has?"
"Four," said the Princess.
"And how many sons has Mistress Snake here?"
"Seven," said the Snake.
"Then," said the old Shepherd, "it will be quite fair for Mistress Snake
to kill his Highness the Prince, when her Highness the Princess has had
three sons more."
"I never thought of that," said the Snake. "Good-bye, King, and all you
good people. Send a message when the Princess has had three more sons,
and you may count upon me--I will not fail you." So saying, she
uncoiled from the Prince's neck and slid away among the grass.
The King and the Prince and everybody shook hands
with the wise old Shepherd, and went home
again. And as the Princess never had any
more sons at all, she and the Prince
lived happily for many years;
and if they are not dead
they are living
still.
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