A Little Indian Fairy Tale
The prince of a vast kingdom was a widower and deeply loved his only son, who was three years old. One night, before falling asleep, in his lavish bedroom adorned with the most pleasing objects to the eye and nose, a female devil, black as ebony, appeared. The she-devil told him she was jealous of the love he bore for his son and would transform the child into a snake. Desperate, the prince rushed to the child’s room and, in the small red bed, found a hideous snake. Terrified, he hurried out of the room, but a thought, even more dreadful than the sight, paralyzed him. What if his son needed him, his goodnight kiss, a caress, and felt abandoned by his father? What would the little one feel if he noticed the disgust on his face? An infinite compassion then arose in his fatherly heart, like the rising of a full moon in a deep night. He returned to the room and kissed the snake, summoning his strength and overcoming all horror. As days passed, the prince grew accustomed to the snak...