The Tale of Two Snakes and the Prince

Moral of the story: When your enemies quarrel, you are the winner.

Once upon a time, there was a king named Devashakti who was very worried about his son, who was very thin and weak. His son’s health was deteriorating day by day.

Despite the best efforts of renowned physicians from far-off places, they could not cure him because there was a snake living inside his stomach. They tried all sorts of treatments, but none were successful.

The young prince was also upset to see his father distressed because of him, and he was tired of his life. One night, he quietly left the palace and went to another kingdom. He started living in a temple, surviving on whatever alms kind people gave him.

This new country was ruled by a king who had two young daughters. They were raised with the best education. Every morning they would bow at their father’s feet to seek his blessings.

One of the daughters would say, “O Father, all the joys of the world are bestowed upon us with your blessings”, and the other daughter would say, “O King, one only gets the fruits that are destined for one’s actions!”.

The comments of the second daughter made the king very angry and one day, he ordered his ministers to marry her off to anybody they met outside the palace.

The ministers did as instructed and found the young prince living in the temple. The two were married.

The princess was a religious girl and considered her husband as her God. She was very happy and content with the marriage. They decided to travel to a different part of the country, as it would be improper for them to make the temple their home.

On their journey, the prince became tired and wanted to rest under a tree. He was getting weaker every day and could not walk long distances. The princess decided to buy some food from a nearby market.

When she returned, she saw her husband fast asleep and a snake emerging from an anthill nearby. As she was about to caution him, she saw another snake emerging from her husband’s mouth. She hid herself to observe what would happen next.

The snake from the anthill said to the other snake, “Why do you torture this handsome prince? You risk your own life too. If the prince drinks soup of cumin seeds and mustard, you would surely die!”

The snake from the prince’s mouth replied, “Why do you guard two pots of gold which you have no need for? You risk your life too. If someone pours hot water and oil on the anthill, you would surely die!”

After a heated argument, they went back inside their respective places, but by then, the princess had learned their secrets.

She acted accordingly and fed her husband soup made of cumin seeds and mustard. Within hours, the young prince began to recover and regained much strength. After that, they poured hot water and oil on the anthill and dug out two pots of gold that the snake had been guarding.

Now that the young prince had started recovering and they had two pots full of gold, they lived happily ever after.

Moral of the story “The Tale of Two Snakes and the Prince” is When your enemies quarrel, you are the winner.