XVIII
THE STORY OF THE HUNTERS AND THE BIG SNAKE
LONG ago there lived some hunters who one day took their bows and arrows and went with their dogs to hunt in the forest.
And those hunters walked very far, looking for game, and they caught some animals, and then a very heavy rain fell upon them. So they looked for a place in which they could sit and take shelter until the rain was over, and they found a very big tree with a large hollow in it. Then those hunters and their dogs entered into that tree and sat down. Now that hole in the tree belonged to a large snake, and that snake had gone out to look for game.
The snake hunted and did not find any game, so it returned home hungry and annoyed. When it got near its hole it heard the voices of men talking in its house.
That snake was very surprised, and said to itself, "Who can it be talking in my house?" Then it said in a loud voice, "Who speaks there in my house?"
Those men inside were astonished, and asked one another, "Who can that be talking outside?"
Before they could answer, or look outside, the snake itself arrived at the entrance and blocked the way out. Then it said, "What sort of people are you to come and sit in my house? This is my house in which I sit by myself. Answer me quickly what you mean by going into it?"