The White Man and Snake

The story goes that a white man once came upon Snake lying under a big stone that had fallen on her and pinned her so she could not get up. The man lifted the stone off her, but as soon as he had done it, she wanted to bite him.

“Stop!” said the man. “Let’s both go first and ask some wise people.”

They went to Hyena, and the man asked, “Is it right that Snake should want to bite me, when I helped her as she lay under a stone and couldn’t get up?”

Hyena was hoping to get a share of the man’s body, so he said, “What would it matter if you were bitten?”

Snake was ready to bite, but the man said again, “Wait a little. Let’s go to some other wise people and hear whether this is right.”

They went on and met Jackal. “Is it right,” the man asked him, “for Snake to want to bite me, when I lifted off the stone that was lying on top of her?”

“I don’t believe Snake could be trapped under a stone so that she couldn’t get up,” said Jackal. “I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it with my own two eyes. So come along, let’s go and look at the place where you say it happened, and see whether it can be true.”

They went back to the very spot. “Snake,” said Jackal, “lie down and let yourself be covered.”

Snake lay down, and the man put the stone over her again. Struggle as she might, she could not get up. Then the man wanted to free her again, but Jackal stopped him. “Don’t lift the stone,” he said. “She wanted to bite you, so let her get up by herself.”

Then the two of them went away and left Snake under the stone.

About this tale

“The White Man and Snake” is in James A. Honey’s South-African Folk-Tales (1910), followed there by a second version of the same fable. It was printed earlier as No. 5 in W. H. I. Bleek’s Reynard the Fox in South Africa (1864), where Bleek says the Khoekhoe original was in G. Krönlein’s manuscript.

Stories of a rescued creature that turns on its rescuer, and a clever judge who puts it back where it started, are told in many parts of the world. Here the judge is Jackal, who wins simply by pretending not to believe the story.

Read the original: Honey’s South-African Folk-Tales — Gutenberg edition

Best for ages 6–8 — a short fable about gratitude and a clever way to settle an argument.

Two judges with different aims

Hyena expects to benefit if the man is bitten, so his answer serves his appetite. Jackal instead changes the situation by asking for a demonstration. Once Snake is trapped again, the immediate danger is over, though leaving her there remains open to debate. The man’s racial label comes from the historical title and telling; the question of gratitude and fair treatment does not depend on it.

Question the judges

Write what each judge stands to gain and what each asks the disputants to do. Which response protects someone, and does protecting that person settle what should happen to Snake afterward?

Talk about it

• Why did Hyena give such an unfair answer?
• How did Jackal trick Snake without arguing with her?
• Was it fair to leave Snake under the stone? What do you think?

More stories like this

• The Ungrateful Man — a rescued creature repays kindness badly
• The Tiger, the Ram, and the Jackal — Jackal in another Honey tale
• The Judgment of Baboon — another animal judge