The Snake and the Poor Man

Once upon a time, the king had a dream: a fox was hanging above the head of his bed. He jumped up and ordered all the wise men of the land to be summoned to the palace. "So and so," he said, "here I am, and here is my dream. Explain to me what this dream means." But not a single wise man could interpret the king's dream. Meanwhile, in the fields, a snake crawled up to a poor man and said:

"Listen, brother human, I will reveal to you the meaning of the king's dream. Go and tell the king. He will give you money, and we will share it."
"Alright," agreed the poor man, "tell me, I'm listening. And the money the king gives me, I will share with you as a brother."

And the snake said:

"Go and say this: 'Your Majesty, your dream means that this year is unlucky and full of deceit. Be cautious, do not let yourself be deceived by your viziers, your wife, or your sons. Keep your eyes open.'"

The poor man went, interpreted the king's dream, and received a large sum of money from the king. But he returned home by a roundabout way to avoid meeting the snake and sharing the money with her.

Some time later, the king had another dream: a sword was hanging above the head of his bed. He jumped out of bed and shouted:

"Call that poor man at once! Let him interpret this dream too!"

The servants ran to fetch the poor man: "So and so, the king is calling you." The poor man set off for the palace, but on the way, he encountered the snake, who hissed at him:

"Stop, brother human, listen to what I have to say!"

The poor man stopped, embarrassed and ashamed, and the snake said:

"Go and tell the king: 'Your Majesty, your dream means that this year will bring great bloodshed, so you must prepare for war. But in this war, you will be victorious, so do not fear!'"

"Alright, I will say that," agreed the poor man. "And I will give you your share."
"Go then, may God be with you!" said the snake, slithering away. "Though it was not right of you to withhold my share last time..."

The poor man went to the king and interpreted his dream. The king said to him:

"Well, if war is expected in the land, I gift you this sword—it may come in handy when you face trouble or enemies."

The poor man girded himself with the gifted sword, mounted a gifted horse, slung a saddlebag of gifted gold over his shoulder, and rode home.

In the field, the snake crawled out to meet him and asked:

"Well, brother human, have you brought me my share?"

The poor man drew the king's sword and struck at the snake to kill her, but he missed and only cut off the tip of her tail. The snake dodged and slithered back into her hole.

A whole year passed after that. Everything happened as the snake had said: there was a bloody war, and the king emerged victorious over his enemies. Then the king had another dream: a wolf and a lamb were hanging above the head of his bed. He rose and ordered the poor man to be summoned to the palace.

As the poor man walked to the palace, he thought: "Ah, why did I wrong the snake so? Without her help, I won't be able to interpret the dream, and my head will roll..."

He walked, not looking around in his sorrow, when suddenly, there she was—the snake crawled out to meet him and said:

"Go, brother human, and tell the king: 'Your dream means that after this, a year of peace will come, and the lamb will graze peacefully beside the wolf.'"

The poor man went to the king, interpreted his dream, and received great gifts. He rode with them to the snake's hole, called her out, and said:

"Take the king's gift, sister, and wait here for me—I will bring everything I received from the king before, and we will share it as brothers."
"No need!" laughed the snake. "Keep it for yourself, I don't need anything!"
"But how can it be, sister snake? I have wronged you so much, and yet you repay me with kindness?" the poor man said, embarrassed.

"Go in peace," said the snake. "It's not entirely your fault. The first year was the year of the fox, a year of deceit—so you deceived me. The second year was the year of the sword, a year of bloodshed—so you shed my blood: you cut off my tail. And the third year is the year of safety and peace—so you have made peace with me. Now go in peace!"

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The Snake and the Poor Man

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