The Snake, The Farmer, And The Heron

A snake chased by hunters asked a farmer to save its life. to hide it from its pursuers, the farmer squatted and let the snake crawl into its belly. But when the danger had passed and the farmer asked the snake to come out, the snake refused. It was warm and safe inside. On his way home, the farmer saw a Heron and went up to him to whisper what had happened. The Heron told him to squat and strain to eject the snake. When the snake stuck its head out, the heron caught it, pulled it out and killed it. The farmer was worried that the snake's poison might still be inside him, and the heron told him that the cure for snake poison was to cook and eat six white fowl. "You're a white fowl," said the farmer. "You'll do for a start." He grabbed the heron, put it in a bag and carried it home where he hung it up while he told his wife what had happened. "I'm surprised at you." said the wife. "The bird does you a kindness, rids you of the evil in your belly, saves your life in fact, yet you catch it and talk of killing it." She immediately released the heron, and it flew away. But on its way, it gouged out her eyes.

MORAL: When you see water flowing uphill, it means that someone is repaying a kindness (Culled from African Folk Tales)

The story above does not prove to dis-credit the sanctity of trust but it is an eye opener though. The truth of the matter is, not everyone or everything should be trusted at first glance and/or action. In other words, never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies also. They come in handy at times and truth be told, a old enemy is usually more trust-worthy than an old friend. The reason for this is, while an old friend can take you for granted because of the friendship you share, an old enemy who now has become a friend has a lot to prove to you.

As Baldassare Castiglione(1478-1529) wrote, "Thus for my own part i have more than once been deceived by the person i loved most and of whose love, above everyone else's, i have been most confident. So that i believe that it may be right to serve one person above all others, according to merit and worth, but never to trust so much in this tempting trap of friendship as to have cause to repent of it later on."