82 



Chapter XL 



SOME LEGENDS AND STORIES ABOUT 



SNAKES. 



The Python. f^g Python Reticulatus is said to have once 



A Burmese , ,, i • i • t 11 11 • t^ 



Legend. been a '' plain-skmned snake, but it got Eve to 

 weave patterns on its back. 



This reptile was at that time so poisonous 

 that if it bit even the footstep of a man, the man 

 died. The Python, however, was not quite sure of 

 its deadly power, so it bit the footprint of a man, 

 and asked a crow to follow the latter, and see 

 whether he died. So the Crow followed the man, 

 and eventually came to a village where the funeral 

 of the dead man was taking place, and where there 

 was much noise and beating of tom-toms, as is 

 the custom at an Eastern funeral. 



The Crow, under the impression that the 

 people were holding a festival, returned to the 

 Python and told him that the man could not have 

 died, as there was much noise and rejoicing in the 

 village. 



This so annoyed the Python that it climbed a 

 tree, spat out all its poison, and became harmless. 



The other reptiles then came and licked up 

 the poison, but the Python made them promise 

 only to use their venom under provocation. The 

 Cobra promised that it would bite only when it had 

 been provoked seven times in one day. The water- 

 snakes and frogs refused to promise, and said they 

 would bite whenever they wished, so the Python 

 drove them into the water, where, their poison 

 being washed away, they became harmless. 



