Stranica 129 [129]
| "b ii
>THE? WHITE *SNAKE?
LONG time ago there lived a King
whose wisdom was noised abroad in all
the country. Nothing remained long
unknown to him, and it was as if the
knowledge of hidden things was brought
to him in the air. However, he had
one curious custom. Every day at
dinner, after the table had been cleared
and every one gone away, a trusty ser¬
vant had to bring in one other dish, But it was covered up,
and the servant himself did not know what was in it, and no
one else knew, for the King waited until he was quite alone
before he uncovered it. This had gone on a long time, but at
. last there came a day when the servant could restrain his curi¬
Osity no longer, but as he was carrying the dish away he took it
into his own room. As soon as he had fastened the door
securely, he lifted the cover, and there he saw a white snake
lying on the dish. After seeing it he could not resist the
. desire to taste it, and so he cut off a small piece and put it in
his mouth. As soon as it touched his tongue he heard out¬
side his window a strange chorus of delicate voices. He went
and lis.ened, and found that it was the sparrows talking to¬
tether, and telling each other all they had seen in the fields
and woods. ‘The virtue of the snake had given him power to
understand the speech of animals,
Now it happened one day that the Queen lost her most
splendid ring, and suspicion fell upon the trusty servant, who
had the general superintendence, and he was accused of steal¬