It came to pass in the time of King David, when his son Solomon was still a young lad, that an old man, walking along the road in winter time, found a half frozen snake in the road. The old man, bethinking himself of the command to take pity on all creatures, put the snake in to his bosom to warm it. No sooner did the snake recover than it coiled itself round the man's body and squeezed him so hard that he nearly died.

And the old man said to the snake, "Why do you harm me and try to kill me when I saved your life? If not for me you 'would have frozen to death."

Continuing, the old man said: "Let us go before the court that they may decide whether you are treating me justly."

The snake replied: "I am willing to do so, but to whom shall we go?"

The old man replied: "To the very first thing we meet."

So they walked together, and .first they met an ox.

The old man said to the ox: "Stand still and judge between us."

And he related to him how he had saved the snake from death, and now the snake was doing all in its power to kill him.

The snake replied: "I am acting properly, for it is written in Holy Scripture, 'I will put enmity between the man and the snake' " (d. Gen. 3.15).

The ox replied: "The snake is right in doing you harm, though you have treated it kindly, for such is the way of the world, that if one does good to another, he returns evil for good. My own master does the same. I work all daylong in the field and benefit him a great deal, and yet in the evening he eats of the best and to me he gives a little oats and straw. My master lies in a bed and I must lie in the open yard on straw, where the rain comes down upon me. This is the way of the world, and therefore the snake is right in wishing to kill you, although you have saved its life."

The old man was very much hurt by these words.Farther on, they met an ass. Addressing the ass, they said the same to it as they had said to the ox. And the ass replied in the same manner as the ox had done.

Then the old man came before King David and complained of the snake.

King David replied: "The snake is right. Why did you not carry out the word of the Scripture, which says: 'I will put enmity between you and the snake'? Therefore I cannot help you. You did wrong in warming the snake. You should have let it die, for the snake is our enemy."

The old man left the king with tears in his eyes, and as he walked on, he met young Solomon in the field near a well. He had dropped a stick into the well and was ordering the servants who were with him to dig deeper below the source of the well, so that the water should run into the well and fill it, and thus carry the stick up, so.

that he could reach it.

When the old man saw this, he said to himself: "He must be a clever lad, I will put my case before him, maybe he can protect me from the snake," and he told him the story of what had befallen him with the snake.

Solomon replied: "Have you not been before my father?"

And the old man said: "Yes, I have been there, but he said he could not help me."

Young Solomon said: "Let us go to him again."

So they went together again before King David, and the old man had a stick in his hand upon which he leaned.

When they appeared before King David, Solomon said: "Why do you not deliver judgment between this man and the snake?" and King David replied: "I have no judgment to declare. It serves him right. Why did he not keep what is written in the Torah?"

Then Solomon said: "Dear father, give me leave to pronounce judgment between the two."

King David replied: "Dear son, if you think you can do so, go ahead without hesitation."

Then young Solomon, turning to the snake, said: "Why do you do evil to a man who has done you good?"

And the snake replied: "The Lord, blessed be He, has commanded me to bite the heel of the man."

Then Solomon said: "Do you desire to observe the Torah and what is written therein?"

And the snake replied: "Yes, most willingly."

Then Solomon said: "If you desire to do what is written in the Torah, then release the man and stand on the ground beside him, for it says in the Law that the two men

who have a quarrel with one another must stand before the judge (cf. Deut. 19.17), therefore you must also stand alongside of him."

The snake replied: "I am satisfied to do so;" and, uncoiling itself from the man, he stood next to him.

Then Solomon said to the old man: "Now do to the snake as it is written in the Law, for it is written in the Torah that you should crush the snake's head (cf. Gen. 3.15). Therefore do as is written in the Torah, for the snake has promised to accept the judgment of the Law."

The good old man had a stick in his hand which he used in walking, for he was a very old man. So he lifted the stick and smote the snake on the head and killed it. And so the clever Solomon saved the old man from the snake through his great wisdom.

Therefore, no one should do good to a wicked creature, as the old man did.