A certain man had a shepherd who had served him faithfully and honestly
for many years. One day, as the Shepherd was tending his sheep, he
heard a hissing noise in the forest, and wondered what it could he. He
went, therefore, into the wood in the direction of the sound, to learn
what it was. There he saw that the dry grass and leaves had caught
fire, and in the middle of a burning circle a Snake was hissing. The
Shepherd stopped to see what the Snake would do, for the fire was
burning all around it, and the flames approached it nearer and nearer
every moment. Then the Snake cried from amid the fire—
“Oh, Shepherd! for heaven’s sake save me from this fire!”
The Shepherd stretched out his crook over the flames to the Snake, and
the Snake passed along it on to his hand, and from his hand it crawled
to his neck, where it twisted itself round.
When the Shepherd perceived this, he was greatly alarmed, and said to
the Snake—
“What have I done in an evil hour? Have I saved you to my own
destruction?”
The Snake answered him, “Fear not, but carry me to my father’s house.
My father is the King of the snakes.”
The Shepherd, however, began to beg the Snake to excuse him, saying
that he could not leave the sheep; but the Snake answered—
“Be not troubled about the sheep; no harm shall happen to them; only go
as fast as you can.”
The Shepherd then walked through the forest with the Snake until he
came to a gate which was entirely made of snakes knotted together.
There the Snake on the Shepherd’s neck gave a whistle, and all the
other snakes untwisted themselves. Then the Snake said to the Shepherd—
“When we come to my father’s palace he will give you whatever you ask
for: silver, gold, and precious stones. Do you, however, take nothing
of these, but beg to know the language of the brutes and other
creatures. He will refuse you this for a long time, but at last he will
grant your request.”
Meanwhile they came to the palace, to the father, who, shedding many
tears, cried—
“For heaven’s sake! my dearest daughter, where have you been?”
And she told him in due order how she had been surrounded by the forest
fire, and how the Shepherd had rescued her. Then the King of the snakes
turned to the Shepherd and said to him—
“What would you have me give you for the deliverance of my daughter?”
The Shepherd answered, “Only let me understand the language of animals;
I want nothing else.”
Then the King said, “That is not good for you; for if I were to bestow
upon you the gift of the knowledge of the tongue of animals, and you
were to tell anyone of it, you would instantly die. Ask, therefore, for
something else; whatever you desire to possess, I will give to you.”