There was a poisonous snake in a forest. Whenever wicked people would make fun of him, he would bite them. One day, a hermit came to meditate in the forest. He asked the snake not to bite anyone. The snake was mesmerised by the hermit’s supernatural powers and agreed. Some time later, the hermit left for another place. He said to the snake, “Remember what I have taught you and be good.” Many months later, when the hermit returned to the tree, he saw that the snake was almost dead. “What happened to you, my child?” he asked. “Master, some wicked people threw stones at me. I stopped biting because you had said so. Now I am injured and weak,” the snake replied. The hermit said, “I had asked you to stop biting. But there was no harm in scaring away the wicked people to protect yourself,” said the hermit.
The Hermit’s Advice
