Once, a traveller saved a snake. The sly snake tried to bite him. The traveller shouted, “Please stop! Let a wise person decide this for us.” Just then, a jackal came along. The traveller asked him, “I freed this snake when she was under the stone and now she wants to bite me. It is not fair that she bites me, when I helped her. Is it?” The wise jackal replied, “I don’t believe you unless I see the incident repeat itself.” So, they went to the place where it all happened. There, the jackal said, “Lie down, snake!” When the snake did so, the traveller covered her with the stone. When he was about to release her, the jackal said, “Do not lift the stone. The ungrateful one wanted to bite you. So, let her free herself.” Then they went away, leaving the snake under the stone.
The Ungrateful Snake
