The Farmer and the Snake

In the depths of winter, heavy snow sealed off the mountains. It was a rare clear day. The farmer looked at his dwindling food stores and decided to go out and hunt some game. He took the bow and arrows, spear, and rope hanging on the wall, bundled himself up in a thick coat, put on his hat, and left the little cabin. As he walked through snow that came up past his ankles, the farmer planned to clear the snow from his vegetable patch when he got home, so the newly sprouted seedlings wouldn't freeze to death. They were his only source of vegetables for the entire winter. He was heading up the mountain, lost in thought, when suddenly he felt something beneath his foot. He stopped and cautiously prodded it with his spear. A long object flew up and landed in the snow. The farmer looked closely. It was a white snake, frozen stiff! Theme: 1