The Gold-giving Serpent
by Unknown · from Indian Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
Once there was a farmer named Haridatta. He was very poor. His farm was not good. He worked hard. But his crops did not grow well. He was often sad.
One hot day, Haridatta rested. He saw a big ant-hill. A big snake came out. It had a hood. Haridatta thought, "This snake is special. It helps my farm."
Haridatta got some milk. He put it in a bowl. He went to the ant-hill. "Please forgive me," he said. "I did not know you were here."
Next morning, Haridatta came back. He saw a shiny gold coin. It was in the bowl. He was very happy. Every day he gave milk. The Magic Snake gave gold. This made him rich.
One day, Haridatta had to go. He told his son: "Give snake milk daily."
The Son saw the gold. He wanted all the gold. "I will hurt the snake," he thought. "Then I will take all the gold. It will be mine."
The Son put milk down. He hit the snake with a stick. He wanted to hurt it. The Magic Snake was hurt. But it was not badly hurt.
The Magic Snake was very angry. It bit the Son very hard. The Son got very sick. He had to go away. He went far, far away. He could not come back.
Haridatta came home. His son was gone. Haridatta was very sad. He cried for his son. He missed him much.
Haridatta was still sad. But he took milk. He went to the ant-hill. He put the milk down. He wanted to be friends.
The Magic Snake came out. Only its head showed. It spoke to Haridatta. "Your son hurt me," it said. "I bit him hard. We cannot be friends now. It is too sad."
The Magic Snake gave a shiny pearl. It was a last gift. "Do not come back here," it said. Then it went away.
Haridatta went home. He was very sad. He thought, "My son was very wrong. Greed makes bad things happen. Hurt someone, they go away forever."
Original Story
The Gold-giving Serpent
ow in a certain place there lived a Brahman named Haridatta. He was a farmer, but poor was the return his labour brought him. One day, at the end of the hot hours, the Brahman, overcome by the heat, lay down under the shadow of a tree to have a doze. Suddenly he saw a great hooded snake creeping out of an ant-hill near at hand. So he thought to himself, "Sure this is the guardian deity of the field, and I have not ever worshipped it. That's why my farming is in vain. I will at once go and pay my respects to it."
When he had made up his mind, he got some milk, poured it into a bowl, and went to the ant-hill, and said aloud: "O Guardian of this Field! all this while I did not know that you dwelt here. That is why I have not yet paid my respects to you; pray forgive me." And he laid the milk down and went to his house. Next morning he came and looked, and he saw a gold denar in the bowl, and from that time onward every day the same thing occurred: he gave milk to the serpent and found a gold denar.
One day the Brahman had to go to the village, and so he ordered his son to take the milk to the ant-hill. The son brought the milk, put it down, and went back home. Next day he went again and found a denar, so he thought to himself: "This ant-hill is surely full of golden denars; I'll kill the serpent, and take them all for myself." So next day, while he was giving the milk to the serpent, the Brahman's son struck it on the head with a cudgel. But the serpent escaped death by the will of fate, and in a rage bit the Brahman's son with its sharp fangs, and he fell down dead at once. His people raised him a funeral pyre not far from the field and burnt him to ashes.
Two days afterwards his father came back, and when he learnt his son's fate he grieved and mourned. But after a time, he took the bowl of milk, went to the ant-hill, and praised the serpent with a loud voice. After a long, long time the serpent appeared, but only with its head out of the opening of the ant-hill, and spoke to the Brahman: "'Tis greed that brings you here, and makes you even forget the loss of your son. From this time forward friendship between us is impossible. Your son struck me in youthful ignorance, and I have bitten him to death. How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? And how can you forget the pain and grief at the loss of your son?" So speaking, it gave the Brahman a costly pearl and disappeared. But before it went away it said: "Come back no more." The Brahman took the pearl, and went back home, cursing the folly of his son.
Story DNA
Moral
Greed can destroy even the most beneficial relationships and lead to tragic consequences, and some wrongs are too deep to be truly forgiven.
Plot Summary
A poor Brahman farmer, Haridatta, begins to worship a serpent, offering it milk daily in exchange for a gold coin. This arrangement brings him prosperity. When Haridatta's greedy son attempts to kill the serpent to seize all its gold, the serpent bites him, causing his immediate death. Haridatta returns, grieving, and tries to reconcile with the serpent, but the serpent explains that the deep wrong committed makes true friendship impossible, gives a final pearl, and severs ties permanently, leaving Haridatta to lament his son's folly.
Themes
Emotional Arc
hope to tragedy to resigned acceptance
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This story is part of the Panchatantra, an ancient Indian collection of animal fables, often with morals, intended to educate young princes in statecraft and wisdom.
Plot Beats (13)
- Haridatta, a poor Brahman farmer, struggles with his crops.
- He sees a serpent at an ant-hill and believes it to be the field's guardian deity.
- Haridatta offers milk to the serpent, apologizing for his past neglect.
- The next day, he finds a gold denar in the bowl, initiating a daily exchange of milk for gold.
- Haridatta has to leave, instructing his son to continue the offering.
- The son, seeing the gold, becomes greedy and plots to kill the serpent to get all its treasure.
- The son strikes the serpent with a cudgel while offering milk, but only injures it.
- The serpent, in a rage, bites the son, killing him instantly.
- The son is cremated, and Haridatta returns to mourn his loss.
- Despite his grief, Haridatta attempts to resume the offering and reconcile with the serpent.
- The serpent appears, but only its head, and explains that the son's attack and its retaliation make friendship impossible.
- The serpent gives Haridatta a costly pearl as a final gift and tells him never to return.
- Haridatta returns home, cursing his son's folly.
Characters
Haridatta
A man of average height and lean build, weathered by years of farming under the sun. His skin is tanned and his hands are calloused from manual labor. He carries himself with a slight stoop, indicative of his hard life.
Attire: Simple, practical attire typical of a poor Indian farmer: a plain, off-white dhoti wrapped around his waist, and a loose, short-sleeved kurta made of coarse cotton. His feet are bare.
Wants: To improve his financial situation and escape poverty through his farming, and later, through the serpent's gold.
Flaw: His poverty makes him susceptible to greed, which he passes on to his son, and which ultimately prevents him from fully severing ties with the serpent even after tragedy.
Starts as a poor, pious farmer, discovers a source of wealth, experiences tragedy due to his son's greed, and ultimately learns that some relationships, once broken by violence and greed, cannot be mended.
Pious, hardworking, initially poor, respectful, pragmatic, and ultimately driven by a desire for wealth, though he shows grief for his son.
The Gold-giving Serpent
A large, powerful cobra with a distinctive, broad hood. Its scales are a deep, iridescent black or dark brown, shimmering subtly in the light. It moves with a silent, undulating grace. Its fangs are long and sharp.
Attire: None, as a serpent.
Wants: To guard its domain (the field) and perhaps to test human nature. After betrayal, its motivation is self-preservation and upholding justice for the attack.
Flaw: Vulnerable to physical attack, though it possesses magical resilience.
Starts as a benevolent provider, becomes a victim of human greed, and transforms into an unforgiving dispenser of justice, severing ties with humanity.
Initially benevolent and generous, but also vengeful, wise, and unforgiving once betrayed. It values respect and understands the nature of human greed.
Haridatta's Son
A young Indian man, likely of similar build to his father but less weathered, perhaps slightly stronger from youth. He would have a more energetic posture than his father.
Attire: Similar to his father's, simple cotton dhoti and kurta, but perhaps newer or less worn, reflecting his younger age and less arduous direct labor.
Wants: To acquire all the gold at once, driven by immediate gratification and a lack of patience.
Flaw: Overwhelming greed and impulsiveness, leading to a fatal misjudgment of the serpent's power and nature.
Introduced as a replacement for his father in a task, he quickly succumbs to greed, attempts to murder the serpent, and is killed as a consequence of his actions.
Impulsive, greedy, short-sighted, and violent.
Locations
Haridatta's Farm Field
A sun-baked agricultural field, likely with dry, cracked earth during the hot hours, characteristic of an Indian rural landscape. It is bordered by trees providing shade.
Mood: Initially desolate and unrewarding, later becomes a place of mysterious fortune, then tragedy and finality.
Haridatta discovers the serpent, establishes the offering ritual, his son attempts to kill the serpent, and the son's death.
Ant-hill Opening
The specific opening of a large, weathered termite mound, from which the great hooded serpent emerges. It is the focal point of interaction between the Brahman family and the serpent.
Mood: Mysterious, sacred, dangerous, a threshold to the unknown.
The serpent receives offerings, delivers gold, emerges to bite the son, and finally appears to give the pearl and sever ties.
Funeral Pyre near the Field
A temporary structure of wood and kindling, set up not far from the field where the son died, for his cremation according to Hindu customs.
Mood: Somber, sorrowful, final.
The Brahman's son is cremated after being bitten by the serpent.