In one field, where little shepherds were grazing their cattle, there lived a terrible and poisonous snake. One day a holy hermit passed by. The children ran up to him and shouted:
- Holy Father, don’t come here, beware of the snake!
“My children,” said the holy elder, “I am not afraid of your snake.” I know such prayers that protect from all evil.
Having said this, he continued on his way. The snake, seeing a man approaching, raised its head. The Holy Father whispered a spell, and the snake fell at his feet.
- Why do you live causing harm to others? - asked the holy father. “I will tell you the sacred name of the Lord, and you will repeat it and learn to love God.” In the end, you will see Him, the desire to do evil will leave you.
Days passed, the little shepherds noticed that the snake had stopped biting, they threw stones at it. One boy grabbed the snake by the tail and began to twirl it over his head, then hit his head on the rocks several times. The snake lost a lot of blood and was left thinking it was dead. At night she came to her senses and quietly crawled into her hole. She tried to live somehow, eating leaves and various dry herbs.
One day the same holy father passed through this area again. He looked around, looking for a snake. The children told him that she was no longer alive, but he knew that death was impossible for her until the problem of life was resolved, that is, until she saw God.
The snake crawled out of its hole and told the hermit what had happened to it. To which the holy father exclaimed:
- What nonsense! You'd have to be an idiot not to know how to stop your enemies from treating you like that. I only forbade you to bite any creature, but why didn’t you hiss at those who wanted to kill you in order to scare them?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru