Aesop

The Laborer and the Snake

Summary

This short story revolves around the themes of revenge, loss, and the impossibility of reconciliation between two parties that have suffered at each other's hands. It tells the tale of a snake that bites an infant of a cottager family, causing the child's death. In response, the grieving father attempts to kill the snake but only manages to injure it by cutting off the end of its tail. As time passes, the father, fearing further harm from the snake, attempts to make peace by offering food. The snake, however, acknowledges that peace is unattainable, as both parties harbor bitter memories of their respective losses—the father mourning his child and the snake lamenting its tail. The story emphasizes the enduring nature of grief and the challenges of overcoming deep-seated animosity.

Read Online

A Snake, having made his hole close to the porch of a cottage, inflicted a mortal bite on the Cottager’s infant son. Grieving over his loss, the Father resolved to kill the Snake. The next day, when it came out of its hole for food, he took up his axe, but by swinging too hastily, missed its head and cut off only the end of its tail. After some time the Cottager, afraid that the Snake would bite him also, endeavored to make peace, and placed some bread and salt in the hole. The Snake, slightly hissing, said: “There can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever I see you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me you will be thinking of the death of your son.”

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