There is a story about two giant snakes who fought once upon a time ago. One was a water snake and one was an earth snake. The water snake kept trying to destroy the people and the earth snake was trying to protect them from the water snake. I wonder if the fight went something like this…
Over a breakfast of turtles and small pigs the anacondas got into a fight about who was doing more for their home than the other. You know, husband and wife bickering over the chores kind of fighting. So the husband snake said to the wife snake, as men are wont to do "I’ll show you!!" and stomped off.
His wife thought nothing of it, till she heard the people start to scream. So being a curious snake, she went to look. There was her husband trying to drown the people!! "Oh my gods!!" she cried. She grabbed up the nearest people and shoved them into the tree line. But they thought she was trying to eat them, so they ran back toward her husband. So she blocked their path and hissed at them to get them to turn around. Finally they got the idea that she was trying to help them and took her hint.
The wife turned to her husband and asked him, "What the hell are you doing??"
Husband said, "You know they will destroy this earth, so I will destroy them first."
Wife said, "Nothing is written in stone, husband. Give them a chance." She soothed his ire and promised him some loving and he went back to their nest with her, quite contentedly.
Unfortunately for the people, this was a recurring conflict between the snakes. And the people were getting upset by these constant threats. So far, the wife was their champion. So they went to her and asked her to intercede. She bowed her head and said, "I can do nothing more than I have already. It’s up to the people. My husband thinks you will be the ruin of the earth and I’m beginning to worry myself, to be honest."
The elders of the local tribes met and considered what they should do. Either they could hunt and kill the anaconda couple, or they could find out their concerns and alleviate them. They wisely chose talking with the snakes and went to do so.
Of course they brought some small snacks for the couple, just to keep their mouths well occupied while the elders spoke to them.
The snakes were kind of peckish since they hadn’t eaten in a few weeks. So they dove into the small animals.
The elders told the snakes that they would be more careful about caring for the beautiful plants and be more like stewards to the animals as well. They would domesticate some of them as pets and only drink their milk or eat their eggs till they were old.
The snakes thought this was a great idea. So the husband promised that as long as the people did these things, he would no longer try to drown them. To make it clear why they were concerned, the wife told the elders that she was expecting and would deliver her brood very soon.
Ah yes!! Now the people understood why the wife was now concerned, when she had not been before. It made sense. So they went back to the people and told them the plan of action. The people agreed and threw a party in the name of the snakes.
The anacondas heard the celebrations and smiled as they planned for the impending birth. The wife was much relieved.
mspeachierocks 