Indian Fairy Tales · Chapter
The Gold-Giving Serpent explained
A poor Brahman farmer named Haridatta discovers a serpent he believes is the guardian deity of his field.
What happens
A poor Brahman farmer named Haridatta discovers a serpent he believes is the guardian deity of his field. He begins offering it milk, and in return, the serpent leaves a gold coin each day. When the Brahman's son takes over the task, greed drives him to try to kill the serpent to seize all the gold, but the serpent bites and kills him instead. The grieving Brahman returns to the serpent, but the serpent refuses to restore their friendship, citing the son's attack and the father's loss. It gives him a costly pearl and tells him never to return.
Themes in this chapter
Greed and Its Consequences
The son's greed leads him to attack the serpent, resulting in his own death and the permanent loss of the gold-giving relationship.
Gratitude and Ingratitude
The son's ingratitude toward the serpent's generosity destroys the bond, and the serpent later refuses to forgive the father despite his offerings.
Justice and Karma
The son's violent act is met with a fatal consequence, and the serpent's refusal to reconcile underscores a karmic balance of action and reaction.
Characters to notice
- Harisarman
A poor Brahman farmer who discovers the gold-giving serpent and initially benefits from its generosity, but loses his son due to greed.
- Sthuladatta
The Brahman's son, who in youthful greed tries to kill the serpent for all its gold and is fatally bitten as a result.
Key passages
“Suddenly he saw a great hooded snake creeping out of an anthill near at hand. So he thought to himself, 'Sure this is the guardian deity of the field, and I have not ever worshipped it.'”
He spots a large cobra emerging from an anthill and concludes it must be the field's protective spirit, which he has neglected to honor.
The Brahman interprets the serpent as a divine guardian, setting up the ritual exchange.
“Next day he went again and found a denar, so he thought to himself: 'This anthill is surely full of golden denars; I'll kill the serpent, and take them all for myself.'”
The son, seeing a single gold coin, assumes the anthill is packed with treasure and decides to murder the serpent to claim everything.
The son's greed escalates from gratitude to violent acquisition.
“Your son struck me in youthful ignorance, and I have bitten him to death. How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? And how can you forget the pain and grief at the loss of your son?”
The serpent reminds the Brahman that the son's attack and the father's grief make reconciliation impossible, as neither can erase the harm done.
The serpent articulates the irreparable breach of trust and mutual injury.