Once upon a time, there was a Man, a Snake, and a Dog.
The Man was returning home from the town market, carrying his bags, when he saw a large snake trapped under a fallen tree.
As he passed by, the Snake spoke, “Hey, Villager, please help me. Save me from here, and I will do anything you ask.”
The Man was momentarily stunned and said, “What? Is the snake talking?”
The Snake replied, “Yes, indeed, it’s me talking.”
In astonishment, the Man dismounted from his horse and walked toward the snake. With all his strength, he managed to lift the not-so-hefty tree trunk off the Snake, successfully rescuing it.
However, as soon as he did so, the Snake coiled around him and began to hiss menacingly.
“Now, I will bite you!” said the Snake.
“Why?” asked the Man. “Didn’t you promise to do anything I asked? Aren’t you going to keep your word?”
“No,” said the Snake, “that’s not in my nature. My nature is to bite people. You’re a human, and you deserve it.”
The Villager, trembling with fear, pleaded, “But I’ve never harmed anyone. In fact, I’ve been helpful. Look, I just saved you. I am a good person; please don’t bite me.”
“Let’s find out if you’re truly a good person,” said the Snake.
Turning to the Man’s horse, the Snake inquired about the Man’s character.
The horse began to speak, “Humans ride on our backs all day long, thinking they’re doing us a favor by providing us with hay, oats, and water. But when we grow old and weak, what do they do? They sell us to the farmers who plow the fields. There, we toil tirelessly until exhaustion takes our lives. This is how humans treat us. I don’t trust them, so go ahead, bite him.”
Just as the Snake was about to strike, the Man noticed his lost cow passing by.
“Wait,” cried the Man, “there’s one more animal you should ask. That’s my cow; inquire about me from her.”
The Snake turned to the cow and asked about the Man’s character.
The cow began to speak, “Humans keep us locked in their barns for years, separating us from our calves and stealing our milk. Maybe, if I hadn’t escaped, they would have sold me to the town dairy. There, I would have spent my entire life between iron bars. I don’t trust humans either; go ahead, bite him.”
The Snake received similar responses from a chicken and a goat, all testifying to the Man’s selfishness and cruelty.
Just as the Snake was poised to strike, a Dog approached.
The Man quickly said, “Hey, Dog! Can you please explain to the Snake? He was trapped under tree, I rescued him. But now he wanted to bite me. First he asked those animals what kind of man I am ? Good or bad ? They all said I was bad. Because They are trying to punish me for their bad experiences with other people. Please help me. I promise I will never forget what you’ve done, and I’ll always be ready to help you.”
The Dog, looking confused, said, “I don’t understand. How did this situation come about?”
The Snake eagerly replied, “Yes, yes, show him how it happened.”
The Snake directed the Man to place the tree trunk back over him. The Dog watched as the Man struggled to lift the tree again and witnessed the Snake sliding back under the tree.
The Snake proudly exclaimed, “See? This is how I got trapped under the tree.”
The Dog, with a puzzled expression, turned to the Man and said, “Well, how did you get caught in such a predicament in the first place?”
The Man quickly ran away, and the other animals followed suit. The Snake remained trapped under the tree, and no one ever saw it again.
So, do you think humans remember these words from the Dog since then?
Now, ask yourself these questions: When was the last time you saw a dog helping people? And when was the last time you saw a person harming a dog?
(This fable is dedicated to all rescue dogs, particularly to Proteo, a Mexican rescue dog who lost his life during rescue efforts after the Kahramanmaraş earthquake.)
Nihal Altunsüzer
