Atondido Stories
The Story of Yirik and the Snake
There was once an old king who was so wise that he was able to
understand the speech of all the animals in the world. This is
how it happened. An old woman came to him one day bringing
him a snake in a basket.
"If you have this snake cooked," she told him, "and eat it as
you would a fish, then you will be able to understand the birds
of the air, the beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea."
The king was delighted. He made the old wise woman a
handsome present and at once ordered his cook, a youth named
Yirik, to prepare the "fish" for dinner.
"But understand, Yirik," he said severely, "you're to cook this
'fish,' not eat it! You're not to taste one morsel of it! If you do,
you forfeit your head!"
Yirik thought this a strange order.
"What kind of a cook am I," he said to himself, "that I'm not
to sample my own cooking?"
When he opened the basket and saw the "fish," he was fur-
ther mystified.
"Um," he murmured, "it looks like a snake to me."
He put it on the fire and, when it was broiled to a turn, he ate
a morsel. It had a fine flavor. He was about to take a second bite
when suddenly he heard a little voice that buzzed in his ear
these words:
"Give us some, too! Give us some, too!"
He looked around to see who was speaking but there was no
one in the kitchen. Only some flies were buzzing about.
Just then outside a hissing voice called out:
"Where shall we go? Where shall we go?"
A higher voice answered:
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