When
a Drunkard Meets a Snake
1 May
2007
Last Thursday in
China's Guangdong province, on a banquet
celebrating the birthday of a folk god the
Great King (大王诞), villager Tan
enjoyed himself thoroughly and swilled hard
liquor to his heart's content. When the dusk
was falling and he decided it was time for
him to drive his cattle home, he was rather
drunk. So he climbed up on the back of his
horned friend and intented to let it take him
home.
When he woke up next
morning, however, he found to his great
horror that his friend did not bring him home
but left him on a grave field. Yet this was
nothing compared to the shock he received
after he rolled onto his side: there he saw a
snake. And it was not just any snake, but the
highly toxic venom of Coral Snake. The snake
was no longer alive, apparently being crushed
to death by his body weight.
Disoriented, he ran
to the village to report his deadly
encounter. Initially no one believed his
story until they went to the site and saw it
for themselves
When the villager
elders learned the news, they didn't even
bother to raise their eyebrows, however.
Nothing extraordinary, they said. Most snakes
have a fatal weakness: liquor. Whenever they
catch a waft of its scent, they’ll pass
out. And it was why when the cobra in
question crossed the path of a heavily
drunkard Tan, it lost consciousness and the
rest was history.
