SOME SERPENT STORIES FROM PALESTINE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1837, 22 May 1907, Page 18

SOME SERPENT STORIES FROM PALESTINE

The following curious superstition was told me some time ago by a peasant woman from ’Ain Karim

In every cemetery there are a certain number of serpents that are always on the watch for a woman’s burial. The moment the body is covered with earth, one of the serpents bites orf and eats the tongue of the corpse. In doing this, the serpent is said to be performing an act of revenge for the wrong once committed to the serpent by the tongue of Eve. Snake poison is occasionally used in certain drugs. It is also given to young children to make them proof against any snake bite they may get during their lives.

Tlie large black serpent, which is very common, all over;'Palestine, is also used in a preparation for making the hair grow The serpent is slit open and sown with wheat. The juice of the latter, when ripe, is extracted and rubbed on the scalp, with, it is said, a marvellous effect!

One day, some years ago, a woman living in the village of 'Air Karim took her basket and went off to her vineyard to gather some figs; but on arriving at the place where the fig-trees stood, she was horrified to see a large black serpent curled up under one of the trees. The woman was very much alarmed, and started to: rijii' "away. The serpent followed her,'‘but'’fortunately she managed to escape. A few days later, the Woman again set obt ho the vineyard with the intehtiim. of obtaining the figs, but found the serpen't" still occupying the same place. She was therefore obliged to return home without the figs, and declared she would never attempt to get them again. ' She- related her adventure to

some of tlie villagers, who immediately went to the spot and killed the serpent; but the moment they did so, all the figs on the trees withered up. Once upon a time, a young man who had just been married, desired to take a long journey. He informed his mother-in-law, who was living in the same house, of his plans, and charged her with 'the care of his wife while he was absent. His mother-in-law promised to do all he told her, and he departed, feeling quite contented. A few days after he had gone, however, the woman commenced to illuse her daughter to such an extent that before long she succeeded in driving her out of the house. Having done this, she killed a sheep, and sewed its skin into a bag, which she stuffed with bran and buried not far from the house. Meanwhile her poor daughter, after leaving the house, continued to walk on until she found herself under the ruins of a castle. By this time night had set in, and with it a severe storm; but she soon found a refuge under one of the old walls. So she laid herself clown and began to weep. In a short time, however, a serpent crept up to her and asked her the cause of her grief. She told her story. When she had finished she felt, to her horror, that the serpent had been curling itself round her arm and settling itself in her bosom. The serpent bade her not to fear, for it would clo her no harm. It remained-there until the early morning, when it suddenly crept out and said to the young woman : “As you have been so good to me and have kept me warm, during this night, I will reward you by giving you a great and beautiful nalace to live iu, apd it shall stand here in place o ftliis ruin/’ And in a few minutes, to her great astonishment, the woman found herself standing in a magnificent palace. ' Now, as soon as the mother had buried the sheep skin, she dressed herself nn in her daughter’s clothes and proceeded to make herself look as much like her daughter as possible, and succeeded so well, that when after several weeks her son-in-law returned from his journey, he believed her to be his wife. He asked after his motbor-iTvEw, but was told that she had died after his departure, and he was shown her grave. Some time after this event the woman had a son, who became seriously ill. The woman thought of and longed for some of the fruit that grew in her daughter’s palace garden. One day she made up her mind to send and ask for some; but the messenger she sent was put to death by the servants and the serpent the moment he appeared at the palace. , A second was sent, but he was served lin the same manner, and likewise several others. At last, however, an interview wasgranted to one of the messengers; but upon the owner of the palace lieaiing what was required, she instantly refused, and at the same time bade him inform his master that he had been made the victim of an evil plot, and that the woman he was living with was not his wife, but that she, his real wife, was waiting to receive him at the palace. When the young man heard this, he was so infuriated that he murdered both the woman and child, after which he proceeded to his wife’s abode, where he lived for the rest of his days.—Miss Gladys Dickson, in the "Quarterly Statement” of the Palestine Exploration Fund.