3 And if any one happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come hither, and worship the king, that you may have a prosperous journey.
4 In the mean time, while these things were doing, there came certain men, carrying a boy upon a couch;
5 For this boy having gone with his companions to the mountain to gather wood, and having found there a partridge's nest, and put his hand in to take out the eggs, was stung by a poisonous serpent, which leaped out of the nest; so that he was forced to cry out for the help of his companions; who, when they came, found him lying upon the earth like a dead person.
6 After which his neighbours came and carried him back into the city.
7 But when they came to the place where the Lord Jesus, was sitting like a king, and the other boys stood around him like his ministers, the boys made haste to meet him, who was bitten by the serpent, and said to his neighbours, Come and pay your respects to the king;
8 But when, by reason of their sorrow, they refused to come, the boys drew them, and forced them against their wills to come.
9 And when they came to the Lord Jesus, he inquired, On what account they carried that boy?
10 And when they answered that a serpent had bitten him, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Let us go and kill that serpent.
11 But when the parents of the boy desired to be excused, because their son lay at the point of death; the boys made answer, and said, Did not ye hear what the king said? Let us go and kill the serpent; and will not ye obey him?
12 So they brought the couch back again, whether they would or not.