Once upon a time, there lived a snake near a river. He was weak and getting old and he just lay in the corner, looking sad and dull. The snake was watching the frogs play and one of the frogs too noticed the condition of the snake. This frog was a little one and he decided to approach the snake and ask him directly as to why he was sad.
He went to the snake and enquired out of kindness. The snake then replied saying that a few days back, he had chased a frog which was its prey and the frog had hidden itself among a group of saints. Though he waited for long, the frog did not come and hence the snake bit a saint’s child. The child died eventually due to the venom and the saint cursed the snake. The saint cursed the snake saying that he will carry frogs on his back and will eat only what they tell him to eat.
After hearing this, the frog was filled with sympathy and decided to go and inform the frog king. The snake agreed to wait. So, the frog spoke to his king and the king agreed to allow the snake to carry frogs on his back. Along with this, he also allowed the snake to eat some frogs as food daily. The young frog went and conveyed this to the snake. The snake was extremely grateful and from that day, he took the frogs on his back and ate the frogs supplied only by the frog king.
Everything was going well, until the snake was no longer sad and weak. The snake had regained his strength and soon started to eat any frog he came across. He even ate the frogs which he used to carry on his back, including the young frog which helped him. The frog king came to know of this and he approached the snake directly. The snake wasted no time in eating him too!
It was now clear that the snake had lied about the saint’s curse in order to get the sympathy of the frogs so that he could get food to eat without any effort.
Moral - One must not be quick to trust anyone. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous just like in the story narrated above.