The Man, The Snake and The Mountain

Eternal partners in life have been around for eons, knowing each other and appreciating each other. Until one day when something new enters the scene and disrupts it all.

There is a man who sits in a chair, in front of him is a snake and the man is mesmerized by the snake. He has watched the snake slither and twist, rattle and hiss and he finds it very amusing. All the while beyond the snake is a great mountain, majestic and beautiful that covers the land and reaches the heavens. The man pays little attention to this mountain, thoroughly entertained by the snake... although he knows the mountain is there the snake is more important to him. The man and the mountain have been there in each others company, for eternity... the snake slid in between them just days ago and yet, the man has already forgotten the mountain with all it's greatness and beauty in exchange for the finite satisfaction of watching the snake.

Sure, at first it wasn't so bad, it was just a simple division of time between viewing the mountain and watching the snake... but over time the man began to reason that the mountain wasn't much fun to watch because it had always been there the same as it is now, whereas the snake was ever changing in it's movements and habits. So, the scales began to tip and the time the man viewed the mountain became lesser and lesser, the time the man watched the snake became greater and greater. Eventually he really wasn't viewing the mountain at all and had nearly forgotten it's luster.

One day, however, the man got so excited about the snake that he hopped up and cheered! Startled; the snake turned and bit him on the leg. Infuriated, the man stamped on the snake as hard as he could, as many times as he could...and the snake died in a heap of it's own misery. the man died beside it, poisoned by it's venom. The snake's body withered and disappeared as did the man's and in the end was the mountain.

Author's Note

There are many interpretations of this story, that is why it is left open for understanding.