The Story-Book of the Fields 



viper bit her on the snout. The hedgehog 

 licked her bleeding wound, received a second 

 bite on her tongue without showing any 

 alarm, and then seized the viper by the 

 middle of his body. The two adversaries 

 rolled over and over each other furiously, 

 the hedgehog growling and the viper stinging 

 repeatedly. Suddenly the hedgehog struck 

 him on the head, which she crushed between 

 her teeth, and then quietly began to eat the 

 front half of the reptile. After this she re- 

 turned to the opposite corner of the chest, 

 and, lying down on her side, peacefully 

 suckled her young. On the next day she 

 ate the rest of the viper. The same experi- 

 ment was repeated several times, after an 

 interval of a few days, and always with the 

 same result. Notwithstanding the bites that 

 covered her muzzle with blood, the hedge- 

 hog always finished by eating the reptile, 

 and neither the mother nor the young were 

 ever the worse for it." 



We may be sure that it was not without 

 a purpose that the hedgehog received this 

 gift of resisting the venom of reptiles. He 

 must enjoy himself in the places frequented 

 by the viper ; in his nightly excursions in 

 the thickets he is able to surprise the snake 



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