Once, long ago, a man went to the riverbank to gather brushwood, unaware that danger lurked in the grass. Suddenly, a serpent leapt upon him, coiling tightly around his body. From his feet upward the snake wound itself until its head rested near his face, its tongue flicking, its grip suffocating. Terrified, the man shouted: “Go down from me! Release me at once!” But the serpent only squeezed tighter, refusing to let go.
Panicked, the man struggled to kill the serpent, but his hands found no weapon strong enough to strike. Desperate, he called out for help. By chance, a fox passed along the riverbank. The man cried: “Brother Fox, this serpent has bound me in his coils. I begged him to go down, but he refused. He means to kill me! Help me, I beg of you.”
The fox studied the scene calmly, his sharp eyes glinting with cunning. Then he said to the serpent: “Why do you hold him so? Go down, uncoil yourself, and be his friend.”
The serpent, strangely obedient, slid down from the man’s shoulders until it lay coiled loosely at his feet. Then, with deliberate weight, the fox spoke in a proverb: “Thy serpent is under thee; thy staff is in thy hand.”
The man grasped the meaning instantly. Without hesitation, he raised his staff and struck the serpent again and again until it lay lifeless on the ground. Breathing free for the first time, the man turned to the fox and said: “You have saved me from death. For this good deed, I will repay you with another. Wait here, and I will bring you a kid as your reward.”
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The fox, trusting, agreed to wait. But the man’s heart was not set on gratitude. Instead, he devised treachery. He took a dog, hiding it beneath his garment, and returned to where the fox waited. “Here is your gift,” the man said slyly, releasing the dog upon him.
The fox, swift of foot, darted away as the dog lunged. Though chased hard, he managed to escape into the thickets, his life spared by speed and wit. From a distance, he called back bitterly: “So this is how you repay kindness, with treachery! Remember this: Keep the short-ear down, said the fox.”
And so, from this tale two proverbs were born among the people: “Thy serpent is under thee, thy staff is in thy hand”, a warning to strike when the moment is right; and “Keep the short-ear down, said the fox”, a reminder that betrayal invites lasting mistrust.
Moral Lesson
This Tigrean folktale speaks powerfully about gratitude and betrayal. The fox, through cleverness, saved the man’s life by freeing him from the serpent’s deadly coils. Yet instead of showing thankfulness, the man turned to deceit and treachery, seeking to harm the very one who had helped him.
The story teaches us that gratitude should always answer kindness. To repay good with evil is to corrupt the bonds of trust that hold society together. Betrayal not only dishonors the betrayer but ensures they will never again find loyalty or friendship.
Knowledge Check
Where was the man when the serpent attacked him?
At the riverbank, while gathering brushwood.
How did the serpent endanger the man?
It coiled tightly around his body from feet to head, refusing to release him.
What advice did the fox give to the serpent?
He told it to uncoil and go down, pretending to encourage peace.
What proverb did the fox use to hint at the serpent’s death?
“Thy serpent is under thee, thy staff is in thy hand.”
How did the man betray the fox?
He promised a kid as reward but returned with a hidden dog to attack him.
What two proverbs came from this tale?
“Thy serpent is under thee, thy staff is in thy hand” and “Keep the short-ear down, said the fox.”
Source: Tigrean (Tigrinya) folktale, Eritrea.
