332 SHAKESPEARE'S [VIPER 



I 



and calleth her to him with hissing, and exciteth and 

 wooeth her to byclipping [embracing] ; and this lamprey 

 cometh anon ; and anon as the Viper seeth that she is 

 ready, he casteth away all his venom, and goeth then, and 

 byclippeth the lamprey ; and when the deed is done, 

 then he drinketh and taketh again the venom which he 

 had cast away, and so turneth again to his den with his 

 venom. Also this adder Viper swalloweth a certain stone, 

 and some men [Scythians] knoweth that, and openeth slily 

 the serpent, and taketh out that stone, and useth it against 

 venom. Also if the dragon or the adder which hight asp 

 biteth a man or a beast, the head of the adder Viper 

 healeth him and saveth him, if it be laid to the wound. 

 And againward, the flesh of the adder asp ofttimes healeth 

 and saveth him that the adder viper stingeth, and draweth 

 OUt the venom. Bartholomew (Bertbelet], bk. xviii. 117. 



THE Viper hath no ears. It conceiveth at the mouth. 

 Vipers sometimes eat scorpions, and in Arabia they not 

 only delight in the sweet juice of Balsam, but also in the 

 shadow of the same ; but above all kinds of drink they 

 are most insatiable of wine. It is certain and well known 

 what great enmity is betwixt mankind and Vipers, for the 

 one always hateth and feareth the other ; wherefore, if a 

 man take a Viper by the neck, and spit in his mouth, if 

 the spittle slide down into his belly, it dieth thereof and 

 rotteth as it were in a consumption. Vipers also are 

 enemies to oxen, also to hens and geese, likewise to the 

 dormouse ; when the Viper cometh to the nest of a dor- 

 mouse, and findeth there her young ones, she putteth out 

 all their eyes, and afterwards feedeth them very fat, yet 

 killeth every day one, as occasion of hunger serveth ; but 

 if in the meantime a man or any other creature do chance 

 to eat of those dormice, whose eyes are so put out by the 

 Viper, they are poisoned thereby. There is a kind of 

 harmless serpent called Parea, which is an enemy unto 

 Vipers and killeth them. A Viper climbed up into a tree 

 to the nest of a magpie, whereupon .the old one was 

 sitting ; this poor pie did fight with the Viper, until the 

 Viper took her fast by the thigh, so as she could fight no 

 more, yet she ceased not to chatter and cry out to her 

 fellows to come and help her, whereupon the male pie 



