Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-08-02
The Black Snake Of the House.

In almost every house III Syria there Is
a peculiar black serpent, large but very
harmless, which takes up its abode in the
cellar of the house, and will never after
wards quit its nook or corner till killed,
or till the house falls, or the snake dies.
No Syrian would ever intentionally kill
one of these snakes, for, besides keeping
mice and rats away, they are held in
such deep veneration that endless are the
absurd superstititiOns and tales told
about them, all of which l myself once
firmly believed in. Amongst the other
things, it is said, that if you destroy one
Of these, the mate is sure to seek for and
obtain vengeance. They pretend, fur
'ther, that these snakes are doatingly
fond of milk, and that the smell of it will
Immediately attract them. 1t is COM
monty believed that young mother,
may be sure, if she is on the watch, that
the black snake will come in the night
and feed off her breasts, till it has drained
them so dry that there is nothing left for
the infant: and, again, with regard to
the child, should the snake be disappoint-
ed in getting its supply Of milk from the
fountain-head, that it will resort to the
artifice of inserting its tail into the in
fant's mouth, and so tickling it's throat as
to cause it to be sick, and thus supply
itself with food. But the most ludicrous
story is told about the conscientiousness
of one of these snakes, a story which is
firmly believed by most Orientals. 1t
runs thus:
In Syria, it is the custom Of every
family to lay up years provisions of all
the necessaries of life, in store-rooms at
tached to the house; these provisions
consist of melted butter in jars for cook
ing wheat, rice, burial, &c. Now, as
the story goes, one of these black snakes
once deposited her eggs in one of these
store-roOms, hole in the corner Ofwhich
led to the serpent's nest. The young
ones had been Matched, and all were as
sembled together gambOling about, when
some of the children happening to sur
prise the young snakes in their frolics,
seeing that they were very small, whipped
them up in their handkerchief, and ran
off with them to the other end of the
house. Now mark what might have
Dceu Lie ScIlOuS IcSultS VI tulo uOliC.
Mother snake coming home could not
find her young ones, and made pretty to
do about it. At last she discovered that
the children had stolen them, and in her
rage and vexation, determined to be re-
veneed on the whole family. According
", with the assistance Of her tail, she
removed the cover of the butter jar, and
inserting her fangs into the butter, sue
ceeded in poisoning the whole mass. By
and-by, home came the lady of the house
from the bath, and no sooner did she see
what the children had been about. than
with many screams and EXPLANATIONS,
she insisted on the young snakes being
carried back again. No sooner said than
y done and now mother snake began
deeply to regret what she had done.
How to remedy the evil was the question
speak she could not, nor had she any
other method of warning the family not
to use the butter. Well, what do you
think she did! She called the male
snake to her assistance, and these two,
coiling themselves around the thin jar,
broke it into hundred pieces, the melted
butter ran out ON the ground, and was
lost and the family were saved from being
poisoned"
~ The venerable John Sinclair, Arch.
deacon of Middlesex, has been appointed
nv the English Bishops to return the re.