The Sly Snake and the Trusting Frogs
Moral of the story: Beware of deception from all quarters including your friends.
Once upon a time, there was an old snake named Mandavishya who lived near a mountain.
One day, he couldn’t find any prey despite his best efforts. As the sun began to set, the hungry and tired snake started to return home. On his way, he noticed a big pond full of frogs and thought, “I’m too old to hunt for food. I need to think of something.”
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He went to the pond and relaxed on its bank without showing any intention to hunt. At first, the frogs were scared and ran away, but when they saw that he wasn’t hunting, they gathered some courage and approached him.
One of them asked, “O Snake! Why aren’t you hunting as usual?”
The snake replied casually, “I have no desire for food as I am unfortunate. Let me explain. Last night, in frustration of not finding any prey, I bit a Brahmin’s son. The Brahmin cursed me saying, ‘From now onwards, you shall be able to do nothing but serve frogs. You will have to live off what frogs offer to you!’ And so, I lie here, ready to serve any frog who wants my services. I can give a ride on my back to any frog who wishes for a ride.”
When the king of the frogs heard this news, he visited the snake along with his ministers. After being assured by the snake that he meant no harm, the king decided to take a ride on the snake’s back. The snake entertained them by exhibiting various styles of crawling which delighted the frogs.
The next morning, the snake pretended to be weak and crawled slowly on purpose. The king of frogs noticed this and asked about it.
The snake replied, “I am too weak to crawl. I haven’t eaten for so long and must eat something to regain my strength.”
The king of frogs thought for a while and decided that they must serve the snake one frog a day to keep him strong. This was exactly what the snake had planned for.
From then onwards, the snake gave rides to the frogs and got to eat one frog every day. In a short time, he regained his strength. The king of frogs was too excited to realize that their numbers were rapidly decreasing.
One day, a big black snake arrived at the pond bank. He was surprised to see the excited frogs hopping in joy and riding on the snake’s back.
The black snake asked, “O friend! Why are you carrying frogs on your back? They are our food!”
The old snake explained everything to him and said, “I have discovered many different tastes after eating many different frogs here. I have this easy way of life and am enjoying it here.”
Over time, the snake had eaten even the larger frogs and started eating the ministers and the king’s relatives. Finally, one day, he ate the king as well and thus all the frogs in the pond perished.
Moral of the story “The Sly Snake and the Trusting Frogs“ is Beware of deception from all quarters including your friends.