THE FARMER AND THE SNAKE
ONE wintry day a Farmer found a Snake
lying on the frozen ground,---quite stiff,
and nearly dead with cold.
He brought him carefully to his house, and
laid him near the fire. But as soon as the
Snake began to feel the pleasant warmth, he
raised his head, and tried to bite his kind
friend.
"Oh!" said the Farmer, "is that the way
you repay me for my trouble? You shall die
then, and the sooner the better." And he
killed him with one blow of his stick.