Jason Link's Blog - Posts Tagged "fable"
Why the Spider has Eight Legs and the Snake has None
WHY THE SPIDER HAS EIGHT LEGS AND THE SNAKE HAS NONE
There was once was an Emperor who ruled on the high tiptop of the mountain. He was a very wise man and could do many amazing things. He could take sunbeams from the sky and hammer them into pure gold. He could catch the wind by its tail and spin it into the finest threads of silk. By the time he was an old man, the Emperor had more pure gold and fine silk than he knew what to do with. His treasure house was full, so he decided to open up its great doors and give a part of his treasure away. But who would be worthy enough to take his pure gold or to take his fine silk? He thought about this question for a long time, and when he was finished thinking he decided to hold a contest to find whom it would be.
Everyone from the valleys, forests and fields climbed up to the high tiptop of the mountain to hear the Emperor announce the great contest. The Chameleon, the Gecko and the Iguana were there. The Crow, the Eagle, and the Vulture were there. The Fox, the Wolf and the Jaguar were there. Many, many different types of creatures were there. When the Emperor saw that everyone had arrived, he spoke of his great contest.
“My dear subjects, the house where I keep my treasure is full and needs to be emptied, but I will only give away my pure gold and fine silk to the one I find worthy. By the time the sun goes down, whoever can prove themselves to be the cleverest out of all the creatures, will be worthy of my treasure. They will have their choice between all my pure gold or all my fine silk.”
When the animals heard this, they all went down the mountain to look for ways of being clever. Spider and Snake were friends and so they walked down the mountain together. Spider and Snake didn’t look as they do today because back then they both had four legs like many other animals. When they had finished walking to the bottom of the mountain Spider spotted Rabbit’s burrow and saw that smoke was coming out of the chimney.
“It looks like Rabbit is home. If I were a cleverer animal I would catch Rabbit and take his tail to the Emperor. Surely then I would win the contest. But it will never happen because I am two slow and not clever enough to catch Rabbit and take his tail.”
Now Snake thought bringing Rabbit’s tail to the Emperor was a wonderful idea.
“You may not be clever enough little Spider,” Snake boasted, “but I am the cleverest of animals. I will catch Rabbit and take his tail to the Emperor.”
Snake went to Rabbit’s burrow and tried to go inside through the hole but he couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me one of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me two of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me three of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me all four of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, and this time when he tried to go down the hole he could fit. He slithered all the way down the tunnel and into Rabbit’s house.
Rabbit was busy chopping peppers, onions and plantains for a stew and so he didn’t notice Snake come into his house. Snake slithered under the table, across the floor, and over to where Rabbit kept his mixing stick. Snake took the mixing stick and hid it behind large sacks of rice so Rabbit wouldn’t be able to find it. Then Snake stood straight and still as he could where the mixing stick had been, and since he no longer had his legs, he looked very much like the mixing stick.
When Rabbit finished chopping the peppers, onions, and plantains for his stew, he put them in a large pot filled with water. Thinking that Snake was his mixing stick, Rabbit took Snake and began using him to mix the stew. When the stew was ready, Rabbit put Snake back where he had been standing and put the stew over the fire.
The stew started bubbling but it would be a long time until it would be ready to eat, so Rabbit decided to go to sleep until then. When Rabbit started snoring, Snake stopped looking like a stick and went over to Rabbit. Rabbit didn’t look as he does today because back then Rabbit had a long tail like many other animals. Snake took Rabbit’s tail while Rabbit slept and then slithered back up the hole.
When Snake got outside, he noticed that his friend Spider was no longer there.
“Spider must have gone back up the mountain to wait for me there,” Snake thought. “I must hurry. The sun is almost down.” So Snake slithered all the way back up the mountain. Since Snake didn’t have his legs he was very slow and was the last to arrive on the tiptop of the mountain. All of the other creatures had shown what clever things they had done to the Emperor so it was Snake’s turn as soon as he arrived. He decided he would make himself more impressive by putting on Rabbit’s tail and making himself longer. Snake wore a proud grin on his face as he slithered up to the Emperor.
“Great Emperor,” Snake spoke, “I’ve come to tell you that I’m the cleverest of all the creatures. I have succeeded in taking Rabbit’s tail.”
The Emperor laughed. “You come here crawling on your belly and you expect me to name you the cleverest of creatures?” All of the other animals started laughing at Snake as well.
“No,” the Emperor said, “you are surely not the cleverest of creatures. Look at Spider who tricked you into giving away all four of your legs. He is the cleverest of creatures.”
Spider came forward with a grin stretched across his face and looked at his choice in prizes from the Emperor. There was the gold hammered from sun beams and the silk spun from the wind. Spider thought about it for a long while and then realized that with his new legs he would need new clothes. Tucking all the silk under his arms, he walked out of the palace feeling quite proud of himself. But before he left, his eyes fell upon snake who was staring back with the menacing eyes we know snakes to have today. Spider never forgot those eyes and grew very afraid of snake.
Spider also never made all the fancy clothes he had thought of making out of that silk. Instead he built webs high on the tops of trees so that Snake, who still had to crawl over the ground on his belly, could never catch him. And that is why the Spider has eight legs and the Snake has none.
--Thanks for reading! If you are interested in more stories by the author, Link has written a young adult fantasy novel entitled The Legender. To find out more about The Legender please visit legendernovel.com, Amazon, Facebook, or twitter.
There was once was an Emperor who ruled on the high tiptop of the mountain. He was a very wise man and could do many amazing things. He could take sunbeams from the sky and hammer them into pure gold. He could catch the wind by its tail and spin it into the finest threads of silk. By the time he was an old man, the Emperor had more pure gold and fine silk than he knew what to do with. His treasure house was full, so he decided to open up its great doors and give a part of his treasure away. But who would be worthy enough to take his pure gold or to take his fine silk? He thought about this question for a long time, and when he was finished thinking he decided to hold a contest to find whom it would be.
Everyone from the valleys, forests and fields climbed up to the high tiptop of the mountain to hear the Emperor announce the great contest. The Chameleon, the Gecko and the Iguana were there. The Crow, the Eagle, and the Vulture were there. The Fox, the Wolf and the Jaguar were there. Many, many different types of creatures were there. When the Emperor saw that everyone had arrived, he spoke of his great contest.
“My dear subjects, the house where I keep my treasure is full and needs to be emptied, but I will only give away my pure gold and fine silk to the one I find worthy. By the time the sun goes down, whoever can prove themselves to be the cleverest out of all the creatures, will be worthy of my treasure. They will have their choice between all my pure gold or all my fine silk.”
When the animals heard this, they all went down the mountain to look for ways of being clever. Spider and Snake were friends and so they walked down the mountain together. Spider and Snake didn’t look as they do today because back then they both had four legs like many other animals. When they had finished walking to the bottom of the mountain Spider spotted Rabbit’s burrow and saw that smoke was coming out of the chimney.
“It looks like Rabbit is home. If I were a cleverer animal I would catch Rabbit and take his tail to the Emperor. Surely then I would win the contest. But it will never happen because I am two slow and not clever enough to catch Rabbit and take his tail.”
Now Snake thought bringing Rabbit’s tail to the Emperor was a wonderful idea.
“You may not be clever enough little Spider,” Snake boasted, “but I am the cleverest of animals. I will catch Rabbit and take his tail to the Emperor.”
Snake went to Rabbit’s burrow and tried to go inside through the hole but he couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me one of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me two of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me three of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, but when he tried to go down the hole he still couldn’t fit.
“Perhaps if you give me all four of your legs you would be able to go inside,” Spider suggested in a meek voice.
Snake thought this was a wonderful idea and gave another one of his legs to Spider, and this time when he tried to go down the hole he could fit. He slithered all the way down the tunnel and into Rabbit’s house.
Rabbit was busy chopping peppers, onions and plantains for a stew and so he didn’t notice Snake come into his house. Snake slithered under the table, across the floor, and over to where Rabbit kept his mixing stick. Snake took the mixing stick and hid it behind large sacks of rice so Rabbit wouldn’t be able to find it. Then Snake stood straight and still as he could where the mixing stick had been, and since he no longer had his legs, he looked very much like the mixing stick.
When Rabbit finished chopping the peppers, onions, and plantains for his stew, he put them in a large pot filled with water. Thinking that Snake was his mixing stick, Rabbit took Snake and began using him to mix the stew. When the stew was ready, Rabbit put Snake back where he had been standing and put the stew over the fire.
The stew started bubbling but it would be a long time until it would be ready to eat, so Rabbit decided to go to sleep until then. When Rabbit started snoring, Snake stopped looking like a stick and went over to Rabbit. Rabbit didn’t look as he does today because back then Rabbit had a long tail like many other animals. Snake took Rabbit’s tail while Rabbit slept and then slithered back up the hole.
When Snake got outside, he noticed that his friend Spider was no longer there.
“Spider must have gone back up the mountain to wait for me there,” Snake thought. “I must hurry. The sun is almost down.” So Snake slithered all the way back up the mountain. Since Snake didn’t have his legs he was very slow and was the last to arrive on the tiptop of the mountain. All of the other creatures had shown what clever things they had done to the Emperor so it was Snake’s turn as soon as he arrived. He decided he would make himself more impressive by putting on Rabbit’s tail and making himself longer. Snake wore a proud grin on his face as he slithered up to the Emperor.
“Great Emperor,” Snake spoke, “I’ve come to tell you that I’m the cleverest of all the creatures. I have succeeded in taking Rabbit’s tail.”
The Emperor laughed. “You come here crawling on your belly and you expect me to name you the cleverest of creatures?” All of the other animals started laughing at Snake as well.
“No,” the Emperor said, “you are surely not the cleverest of creatures. Look at Spider who tricked you into giving away all four of your legs. He is the cleverest of creatures.”
Spider came forward with a grin stretched across his face and looked at his choice in prizes from the Emperor. There was the gold hammered from sun beams and the silk spun from the wind. Spider thought about it for a long while and then realized that with his new legs he would need new clothes. Tucking all the silk under his arms, he walked out of the palace feeling quite proud of himself. But before he left, his eyes fell upon snake who was staring back with the menacing eyes we know snakes to have today. Spider never forgot those eyes and grew very afraid of snake.
Spider also never made all the fancy clothes he had thought of making out of that silk. Instead he built webs high on the tops of trees so that Snake, who still had to crawl over the ground on his belly, could never catch him. And that is why the Spider has eight legs and the Snake has none.
--Thanks for reading! If you are interested in more stories by the author, Link has written a young adult fantasy novel entitled The Legender. To find out more about The Legender please visit legendernovel.com, Amazon, Facebook, or twitter.
