Such people can say that everything about the snake named Susa, who passionately loved music, is also all lies. However, Uncle Jerry, who lived on the banks of Kildagan Creek near Sweetwater, Texas, swears that this is true. And he already knows, because he was the first to meet this snake.
That’s right, but you have to remember that some people thought that Uncle Jerry wasn’t that much at all... You see, he didn’t want to sell his run-down farm even after a dry summer, when the entire crop had died, and he knew that heavy rains were about to fall. Everyone sold their farms and moved to California. Everyone except those who remained, of course. And old Jerry doesn't move. He spent whole days sitting on the veranda and playing the harmonica.
“He’s playing the fool with his harmonica,” the neighbors grumbled.
However, everyone admitted that he played excellently.
And then one hot evening, close to sunset, Uncle Jerry organized a real concert for his two skinny chickens and the two or three bony cows that were left of the entire herd. In fact, he loved the bouncy march rhythms most of all, especially the “Stars and Stripes” performed by the famous conductor and composer John Philip Sousa. So, he was playing this melody on the harmonica, when suddenly he saw at his feet a huge rattlesnake with a black diamond on its back, coiled in a ring. Uncle Jerry almost swallowed his harmonica in fright, but he pulled himself together and continued to play, because it seemed to him the most prudent thing to do.
He played everything he knew, from beginning to end and from end to beginning. And so, when he played “Stars and Stripes” again, he noticed that the snake especially liked this tune and began to sway to the beat of the music.
Uncle Jerry played until he was completely exhausted. The sun had already set, and the moon had been shining overhead for a long time. Finally he gave in.
“That’s it, now you can bite me,” he said to the snake. - If you really want to. I will fail in this place if I continue to entertain you!
The snake nodded, as if she understood him, and seemed very pleased. Then she made a little noise with her rattles, as if she was applauding, and crawled away.
And so it has been since that day: as soon as Uncle Jerry comes out onto the veranda with his harmonica, the snake is right there.
He listens and sways to the beat of the music, and his eyes sparkle with pleasure. Soon Uncle Jerry fell in love with this snake so much that he was ready to perform these “Stars and Stripes” endlessly for her. And he even decided to name it in honor of the composer J.F. himself. Susoy. After two weeks, Susa learned to make noise with her rattles in time, so it was a very nice duet.
And the days passed, the heat became more and more unbearable, the drought became more and more terrible, and everyone thought that Uncle Jerry was completely out of his mind if he didn’t leave his farm and go to some other place. Whoever it is, not only doesn’t go, but plays the harmonica for Susa, and she listens and flaps her tail and rattles to the beat of the music.
But one evening Susa did not come to the concert. And on the next, and on the third day too. Uncle Jerry was so shocked that he lost all interest in music. His concerts became shorter and shorter day by day, until finally he abandoned his harmonica completely and now sat silently and waited for J.F. to return. Susa.
By July, Kildagan Creek was completely dry. Uncle Jerry's cows and chickens also had dry throats and stood there with their tongues hanging out. Finally, on July 10, heavy dark clouds began to gather in the sky. It started to rain. It rained for five weeks straight without a break. When the rain stopped, Kildagan Creek was full of water, and everything Uncle Jerry planted came up and ripened in his field before he could weed it. At this point people began to say that perhaps they were wrong, that Uncle Jerry was very much in his right mind. It’s just this talk of his about a tame snake...
One day, shortly after it rained, a neighbor came to Uncle Jerry and asked permission to graze his cows on his land. He offered to pay Uncle Jerry generously for this, and Uncle Jerry agreed. He harnessed his two nags to an old wagon and drove his neighbor around all the lands so that he could choose the best place for pasture. And he kept looking to see if his musical snake would show up somewhere.
So they were shaking with their neighbor in an old creaking charabanc, when suddenly Uncle Jerry’s ears caught familiar sounds, like the beat of a drum in the rhythm of a march. They rushed from the top of the nearest hill. Uncle Jerry shouted:
- Whoa!
The horses stopped and he instantly jumped to the ground. He was in such a hurry up the mountain that his heart was ready to jump out of his chest; his legs could not keep up with him.
The top of the mountain was crowned by a large flat rock. And on this flat area there were about three dozen rattlers with dark diamonds on their backs. And in the center, with sparkling eyes, with her head held high, sat J.F. herself. Susa. She swung her tail like a conductor's baton and beat out the rhythm of the "Stars and Stripes" march, and the other rattlers played along with her with their rattles.
It was on this morning that Uncle Jerry accidentally took a harmonica with him in his pocket. Then he pulled it out and began to play. Susa looked around, stood up on the tip of her tail and almost fainted with happiness. So they played together - Uncle Jerry on the harmonica, and Susa conducting the snake orchestra - until the moon rose. The neighboring farmer hated snakes and hurried to get away. At home, he began to tell everyone that Uncle Jerry was completely... even worse than they thought. And the snakes... they all went crazy, so he advises his neighboring farmers to immediately sell up and leave wherever they look.
Except for Uncle Jerry, everyone did just that. And he was left with his fat cows, and green crops, and plump chickens. And every evening, closer to sunset, he went up the mountain to play the harmonica, accompanied by a snake orchestra. Those were the happiest hours of his life. And in the life of J.F. Susa too.
Those golden days are long gone, but the big flat rock still stands on top of the mountain, and rumor has it that sometimes in the summer, snakes crawl up there at night,
sit in a circle and beat out the rhythm of the “Stars and Stripes” march with rattles. The snake in the very center is so old that it even grew a beard. Nobody can tell you for sure whether it is susa or not. But if you like marches, go to Kildagan Creek and hear them play.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru