• Call – Color Feel, Theme of the Month
• Response – Taken In, A Fable
• By – Mimi Peterson

Taken In, A Fable

A lady, on her way home from a political rally, found a frozen snake. Feeling compassion, she put the snake under her warm bosom, took it home where she wrapped it in silk, fed it honey, and milk. Later, finding the snake had revived, she happily exclaimed, “How beautiful you are. Look at your skin. You are alive! We will be friends”. She picked up the snake, looked it in the eyes, and kissed it. The snake bit her replying, “Shut up, Woman, I tricked you”. As the lady lay dying, “Why? I gave you back life and liberty”.

“Shut up, Woman, be content I let you save me. I am the great Emperor and you are an impoverished voter.”

Moral: There is little antipathy between Snakes and Women. Did you not know that a snake in the bosom, a mouse in the bag, and a fire in the barn ends in anger?

• Inspired by:
• Aesop’s fable The Farmer and the Snake
• Al Wilson, R&B musician, Take Me In
• Former President Donald Trump’s reading of The Snake during the 2016 presidential campaign.