The Snake and the Owl

There was once a snake, who lived on a hill. All the other animals who lived there avoided him, whispering poisonous rumours to each other. As the snake slithered through his day, the hisses burrowed into his ears, sticking to him like tree resin.

“I heard that snake ate its own young!” A young fox whispered conspiratorially, another nodded its head beside them.

“Yeah, I heard that too! Gobbled them up without a care!”

‘That's ridiculous!’ The snake thought to himself ,‘even if I could have young- I would never...”

His thoughts were interrupted by the two young foxes again, they were chasing each other through the grass and giggling loudly.

‘Ah, they are only young...’

The snake smirked to himself continuing his journey down the hill towards the wildflowers. He was hoping to find a mouse for supper.

“Don't go that way!” A weasel shouted from a Bramble branch. He was looking worriedly down at an old frog- who had been hopping the same way as the snake.

“The snake hunts down there!” that weasel cried.

“I may be old, but these legs are still faster than a lousy snake!” the old frog croaked- indignant.

“Oh no, I mean, of course, sir! I only meant, well, you know what snakes like that do to water, right?” the weasel's voice tapered off into a whisper.

“Spit it out, weasel!” the frog said irritably.

“They spit venom in the ponds around here! Turns them green with death and kills all the frogs, and fish inside- just for fun!”

‘What?’ the snake thought, ‘why would I try to poison ponds for fun?’

“Ridiculous!” the old frog barked.

The snake smiled, happy to see that one creature could see the lies for what they were.

“Well,” the weasel said, “it is your funeral.” With that, he hopped back into the Bramble once more.

The frog sat for a while, a little unsure, before turning around and hopping back where he came from, mumbling about ‘blasted snakes’ as he went.

‘I have half a mind to eat that damn frog myself,’ the snake muttered to himself, before feeling very guilty indeed for thinking such thoughts.

His head a little lower the snake continued his journey to the wild flowers- flicking his tongue in search of food.

Suddenly, a young badger popped out from the green stopping the snake in its path.

“Wow! Hello! You are shiny! Can I touch your scales?” The badger asked rapid fire.

“Sure?” the snake replied nervously.

Slowly, the tiny badger reached out its paw, leaving it hovering above the snakes coiled body. The snake braced itself.

“What are you doing?!” A voice boomed, and the badger fell back onto its rump in surprise.

“Don't you know what that is?” the voice sounded again- a very large, snarling badger appeared.

“But mum...” the young badger whined.

“No!” the mother badger chastised, “that is a snake! Run!”

The baby badger scrambled to their feet, running back to their mother.

“A snake?”

“Yes!, these ones have enough poison to kill a cow in one bite!”

The young badger stared out from between its mother's front legs- gobsmacked.

Instead of defending its reputation, and perhaps correcting a scientific inaccuracy, the snake chose to calmly continue his journey and search for food. The Badger's eyes followed him as he slithered away.

Unbeknownst to the snake, an owl had been flying overhead, listening to the rumours surrounding the poor creature. She was headed to the same wildflower Meadow as he, hoping to start her night with a mouse herself.

She wondered why the snake did not defend its reputation- perhaps he was as bad as everybody thought...

Deciding to see for herself, the owl perched on a nearby tree to watch the snake hunt. She watched on as he avoided killing any young mice, in favour of the older ones, clearly a mercy as a young mouse did not know how to camouflage itself yet. There were plenty of them, squeaking loudly. The owl herself was likely to scoff a few before the night was done. But not the snake, no, he clearly wanted to hunt those mice without long left.

‘How about that,’ the Owl thought, ‘perhaps the most merciful creature on this hill – I would like to know this snake better…’

Moral: Only judge people by how they act when they think no-one is looking.

A/N: The fables are back! I hope you enjoyed this one - It is actually part one of a two-part fable!

Happy writing and reading!

-TWW