The Farmer and the Snake
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Aesop's Fables
A farmer was walking across his fields on a hard winter morning when he found a snake lying in the frost.
It was stiff and barely moving. Another hour and it would have been dead.
The farmer was a kind man. He picked it up carefully, put it inside his coat against his chest where it was warmest, and carried it home.
By the fire
He laid it on the hearthstone in front of the fire and watched it.
Slowly the warmth reached it. The coils loosened. The head lifted. The snake began to move properly, and then quickly, and within a few minutes it was fully itself again.
The farmer was delighted. He crouched down to look more closely at what he had saved.
And the snake struck him.
Afterwards
The farmer sat back on the floor holding his arm, and looked at the snake, and could not understand it.
"I found you dying," he said. "I carried you home inside my own coat."
The snake had already gone back to the warmest part of the hearth and settled itself comfortably.
"You did," it said. "And I am a snake. You knew that when you picked me up."
Moral of the story
Kindness does not change what someone is. Be careful of who you take into your house, however sorry you feel for them.
Questions and answers
- Where did the farmer find the snake?
Lying stiff and nearly dead in the frost in one of his fields on a winter morning.
- How did he try to save it?
He put it inside his coat against his chest to warm it, then laid it by the fire at home.
- What happened when the snake recovered?
It bit the farmer as he crouched down to look at it.
- What did the snake say when the farmer protested?
That the farmer had known it was a snake when he picked it up.
- Is the farmer wrong to have helped?
The fable does not say his kindness was wrong, only that he ignored what he already knew about the animal. That is what children usually end up arguing about.
Word meanings
- frost
- A thin white layer of ice formed on cold surfaces.
- hearthstone
- The stone floor in front of a fireplace.
- coils
- The loops a snake's body makes when curled up.
- struck
- Attacked suddenly, as a snake does.
Questions about The Farmer and the Snake
What is the moral of The Farmer and the Snake?
The moral is that kindness does not change a person's nature. If you know someone is dangerous, helping them does not make them safe.
Is this fable saying we should not be kind?
No. It is saying that kindness should come with clear eyes. The farmer's mistake was forgetting what he was holding, not caring about it.
What is a good discussion question?
Ask whether the farmer should have left the snake to die, and what he could have done instead. There is no clean answer, which is why it works.
Is this fable suitable for younger children?
Ages seven and above. The bite is stated but not described, and the ending needs enough maturity to sit with an uncomfortable lesson.