Storytelling for Week 5: The Snake's Poison

After poor Hariswami died, guilt weighed heavily on the hawk and the local woman. Guilt surely would have weighed heavily on the snake as well, but the snake had been eaten by the hawk so he could no longer feel anything.

After all, Hariswami was only trying to find his wife. He had been on a long, difficult journey and everything he did was out of love for his wife and desire to get her back. He had voluntarily exposed himself to extreme heat, hunger, and thirst. These things hit him especially hard because he was in a fragile emotional state. When he finally thought he’d found a place to have a meal and take it easy for a little while, he ingested poison and died. Not only did his untimely death ensure that he would never find his wife, it also ensured that he would never do anything again.

The hawk saw the death happen from his perch on a dead tree. Immediately, the hawk realized the part he had played in this chain of events. Before he witnessed this trauma, the hawk was feeling pretty pleased with himself. He had just managed to catch and east a nice, juicy snake. That snake was the best meal he had had in a while. As he grasped the snake in his beak and began to eat, the hawk had no knowledge that there was a man below him who would have to suffer from his actions. The hawk promised himself that from that point on, he would be hyperaware of his surroundings so that such an unfortunate accident could never happen again. Some say this is how the phrase ‘to watch like a hawk’ originated.

The woman, who had done only what she thought was right, was alienated by her village and harshly accused as being responsible for the death of Hariswami, the traveler. She had cooked him an excellent meal, one that would be certain to fill up even the hungriest and most weary of men. Then, she had sent him to eat under the shade of a tree, which seemed like a relaxing spot. She agonized over this choice. It’s my fault, she thought. If I had invited him into my home or suggested that he eat on the other side of the lake instead, that hawk wouldn’t have crossed paths with him and the poison wouldn’t have fallen in his dish.

The woman, like the hawk, had no reason to feel guilty. Even after the incident, the woman scrambled to find a doctor who could help the man. She had only been trying to help, but she had gotten wrapped in complicated death of Hariswami. The guilt she felt inside and the scorn she experienced from the people all around her changed her a person. Dejected, she left her village and went on a pilgrimage indefinitely. Luckily, she found a fresh start and a happier life in a place where nobody knew her or associated her with Hariswami’s death.

(A bird of prey with a snake in its talons, Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
Book: Twenty-Two Goblins
Author: Translated by Arthur W. Ryder, illustrated by Perham W. Nahl
Year Published: 1917
Web Source: Twenty-Two Goblins


Author's Note: For this story, I decided to add a quick 'after-the-fact' story to the story of The Snake's Poison. In the original story, Hariswami dies during his journey to find his missing wife and a snake, a hawk, and a woman all indirectly play into his death. This story is one of many of the goblin's riddles to the king that is trying to get ride of him. When the goblin asks the king who is responsible, the king states that none of these parties can be held responsible and it must be the deceased man himself who is responsible. I liked that twist and it made me wonder how the involved parties would feel.