Once upon a time an old man was passing through a desert. Suddenly a big bush appeared in front of him. He approached it and wanted to dig it up. But he suddenly stopped. An enormous snake had got stuck in the middle of the bush. At first he was afraid. He wanted to return, but he wondered, "Poor snake! If he makes a slight move, the thorns will pierce his skin and he will starve if he doesn't move. I should help him."

Then he picked up a sack and a stick by which he extracted the snake from beneath the bush. He was very glad to help him but his happiness didn't last long for the snake said,
"Get ready! I'm going to bite you."

"Is that my reward?" The man, who was really surprised, asked unhappily.

"Yes, my dear friend!" the snake answered with a smile. "I think so and we will ask somebody else if you disagree."

"Okay, let's go check it out," the man said doubtfully.

The first creature they saw was a cow that was grazing.

"Do I deserve wickedness in spite of my favor?" he asked.

"Yes," the cow replied. "Let me make it clear. I was a good milk cow. I used to calve once every year. I also gave many benefits to my master. But the master has just sold me because I'm getting infirm to a butcher who's thinking of slaughtering me. Did I deserve to be treated so?"

The old man, who was intensely at sea, told the snake, "This is not enough. We should ask somebody else." The snake accepted with a nod. Afterwards they reached the oldest tree in the desert. He asked the question again.

"It's so in mankind's opinion," the tree answered. "I used to bear fruit so much and refine the air. I have got a big shadow which draws the attention of tired passengers. After all everybody who comes here either scratches me or sits beneath me. In addition, they cut my branches and say it's ideally suited for an ax handle!"

Much as the old man fell into despair, he begged the snake miserably, "Just one more chance."

"O.k.," the snake said. "But that would be the last one."

A fox which hadn't been able to catch a hare, turned up out of the blue and a faint hope flickered in the old man's breast. He knew that foxes were wise animals. So he asked him,
"What's the reward of giving a favor?"

"Why do you ask me such a strange question?" The fox said. He told him the story and his situation.

"I don't believe it," the fox said craftily. "How would you have pulled the snake out of a bush if he has got stuck there. Above all, how would you have placed such a gigantic snake in this tiny sack? Come on! That's incredible." The snake, whose patience had run out, cried, "Look, how I go into the sack."

Then he entered it. Immediately the fox gave a sign to the old man and, he tied the sack with a string. Finally he got rid of the wicked snake. So the fox got ready to run after the hare.

"I'm most grateful," the old man told the fox with a sigh.

"Don't forget," the fox said. "Never be friendly with a poisonous snake. Never ever. You'll hurt yourself if you have mercy on your enemy. That's just the way things are!"

They separated but the evil snake was trapped by his ungrateful attitude.