To be slain by appetite is a common fate with men, as it was with this
serpent:
A boa-constrictor woke up hungry from a three months’ nap and
caught a rabbit, which he bolted whole in the usual way. This
did not satisfy the cravings of his capacious stomach, and so
he went a-field in search of further victuals, and presently
came to a rail fence, which he essayed to get through. But the
lump caused by the defunct tho undigested bunny stopt him, like
a knot in a rope, when his head and a few feet only of his body
had passed between the rails. Lying in this attitude, he caught
and swallowed another rabbit which had incautiously ventured
within his narrow sphere of action. Now, what was the state of
affairs? He could neither go ahead nor astern through the fence,
being jammed by his fore-and-aft inside passengers, and in this
embarrassing position he was slain with ease.
(119)