Week 13 Storytelling: Harold and the Unthankful Snake

Once upon a time, a young man named Harold was walking through a forest. He had a messy shock of blonde hair and square shoulders. His momma had raised him to be kind and generous. So when he spotted something trapped and wiggling under a huge rock, he rushed over to be of assistance.

He grunted and groaned as he tried to pick up the boulder. After a few minutes of maneuvering, he succeeded and found that he had rescued a long, black snake.

"Why hello there, ssssson," the snake said. "Than you for resssssscuing me. But I'm afraid that now, I'll have to eat you for supper."

(Image Information: "The Snake" by John Batten, 1916.)

"And what kind of a thanks would that be?" Harold asked.

"The very yummy kind," the snake replied.

"No, I don't think that's fair at all. I saved you. You should show me true gratitude by letting me continue on my way though the forest," Harold said.

"No, what's mosssssssst important in life is sssssself-preservation. I can't let you go because I have no idea when my next meal will come along," the snake reasoned.

"Well, if I won't let you eat me, and you won't let me leave, then what are we to do?" Harold asked.

"Let'sssss ask the next passsssser-by of their opinion," the snake suggested.

That seemed agreeable to Harold. And so they waited, and waited.

While they were waiting, a troubling thought crossed Harold's mind. What if the next passer-by agreed with the snake?!

"Say, snake. What if we poll the next three passers-by? That way it will truly be a fair outcome," Harold suggested.

"Well, alright. If it will make you feel better about me eating you," the snake said.

Along came a old horse, and Harold and the snake both explained their sides.

"I don't see why the snake shouldn't eat you for supper," the horse said. "Just today, I found out that my master plans to sell me for my hoofs and my hide. Some gratitude that is."

"Why thank you very much for that opinion," the snake said.

Next, and old dog walked by, and Harold and the snake explained their situation.

"Go ahead and eat him. See if that teaches him that gratitude isn't worth anything. I was a hunting dog my whole life, and  I served my master well. But today he made me leave because I wasn't catching as many birds anymore. He kicked me out of his house with not a second thought! Humph. Gratitude," the dog said.

"That's two votessss!" the snake said. "Why sssssshould we bother hearing from another passsssssser-by? If he agreesssss with me, I'll eat you, and if he doessssn't, I'll ssssstill have more votesssss."

"No, no. The deal was that we would hear from three voters. Let's keep waiting," Harold said.

The whole time they waited, Harold worried.

Then along came a sly fox.

Once Harold and the snake made the fox aware of the situation, he fox quickly realized the version of events that would be best for him.

"What will you give me to eat if I help you get out of this?" the fox whispered to Harold.

"As many chickens as you want," Harold said.

The fox nodded.

"So let me see if I understand this predicament correctly. Harold was trapped under a rock, and the snake-"

The snake interrupted the fox.

"No, I was trapped under a rock. Not Harold," he said.

"Excuse me," the fox said. "The snake was trapped under a rock, and Harold wanted to eat him."

"No, no, no," the snake said. 'I want to eat Harold."

"Oh, yes. I see it quite clearly now," the snake said.

"The snake was trapped under the rock, he wanted to eat Harold, but Harold couldn't remove the rock," the fox said.

"Oh for heavenssss ssssake," the snake said. 'Let me ssssshow you."

The snake wiggled and wiggled until he was once again trapped under the rock.

"Now, I was ssssstuck like this, when along came Harold," the snake said.

"That's right. And that's just where you'll stay," the fox announced.

With the snake trapped once more, Harold let the fox back to his farm and gave him as many chickens as he could eat in gratitude.

Author's Note: This week, I retold "Inside Again" from Europa's Fairy Tale Book by Joseph Jacobs, 1916. I kept most of the story the same except that I changed the ending. In the original, the man takes the fox back to his house to get the chickens. But the man's wife doesn't want to give the fox any chickens. So she puts their old dog in a bag, and the fox takes the bag back to his den. When he opens it, the dog eats him up. This was supposed to be further proof that gratitude isn't good for much. But I think gratitude is very important, so I changed around the story to reflect that moral.