332 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ VIPER. 
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 (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 317. 
Tue 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 
