Nursing a Snake in Your Bosom
Once upon a time, on the edge of a secluded forest behind the snowy mountains, there lived an affectionate woodcutter. This good-hearted man felt a deep compassion for every living being in nature and would rush to the aid of those in need. On a freezing winter day when the pure white snow covered the ground, the woodcutter shouldered his axe and set out toward the depths of the forest. As he made his way among the frozen branches of the trees, he noticed a winding dark shape lying motionless at the foot of the bushes. When he drew near, he understood that it was a great snake about to freeze from the cold, whose breath was almost spent. Pitying the state of the poor creature, the woodcutter lifted it gently from the ground without thinking of the danger for even a moment.
Saying, "I cannot leave you all alone to death in this freezing frost," he placed the snake under his thick fur, in his bosom. The snake, slowly coming to itself with the man's body heat, began to stir its numbed muscles. The woodcutter, feeling the sweet stirring on his chest, smiled and took the road home with the peace of having saved a life. But the cunning snake, regaining its old strength as it warmed, made its poisonous teeth ready with a treacherous intent. Just as the woodcutter was about to open the door of his hut, he suddenly felt a sharp and burning pain in his chest. The snake had greedily poured its venom into this compassionate man who had brought it back to life.
The woodcutter, shaken with astonishment and pain, pulled the snake out from under his jacket and flung it onto the snow. "I saved you from the cold hands of death, how can you do such an evil thing to me?" the man cried out. With a treacherous hiss the snake said, "It is in my nature to poison, you took me into your bosom knowing my ingratitude full well." As the woodcutter felt the venom spreading swiftly through his veins, he understood that he had become the victim of his own pure goodness. Before he gave his last breath, he grasped with pain that the end of the mercy shown to those who have made wickedness a habit is disaster. To show mercy to malicious people means preparing one's own end with one's own hands. Feed the crow and it will peck out your eye.