The old man longed for children. But he and his young wife had none, so he invited his nephew to live with them. This infuriated his wife, who had a vile1 temper. When her husband welcomed the young man with great affection, she turned pale with jealousy2. Her eyes narrowed and her head flattened3. And when she licked her lips, her nephew saw that her tongue was forked. From that day on, the young man spent as much time as possible with his uncle and tried to avoid his aunt. But she seemed to enjoy startling him, suddenly appearing when he least expected her.
One evening, the nephew returned to the house quite late. He lit a candle and started up the stairs. Halfway4 up, he tripped on what seemed to be a coiled rope. Imagine his horror when that rope uncoiled and slithered up the steps in front of him! Then he saw it glide5 across the hall and under the door of his uncle's bedroom.
"Wake up! Wake up" the young man shouted, and he knocked on the door until his knuckles6 hurt. But when his sleepy uncle finally let him in the bedroom, there was no snake in sight.
His aunt seemed to be sleeping, so the young man whispered in his uncle's ear. "I saw a snake." But his uncle was too groggy7 to respond, and he slid back under the covers. The young man searched the room quietly, looking into drawers and cupboards and corners. He peered under the bed and behind chairs. He was beginning to think he was going mad when suddenly his aunt sat up in bed, narrowed her eyes, and gave him an evil look that made his flesh creep.
"I'm sorry to bother you," he cried, racing8 to his bedroom and firmly shutting the door.
When he awoke the next morning, he noticed that the bottom of his bedroom door was arched up in the center, leaving just enough space for a snake to slither through. He bolted out of bed trembling. When he went downstairs, he was shocked to see that every door in the house had a snake-sized arch beneath it.
His aunt was sitting at the table, eating. "Your uncle left for the day," she said, licking her lips with her forked tongue. The young man was too terrified to speak, but his silence only made matters worse.
"I don't like the way you treat me," she said and grabbed his arm. Then she pressed her fingernails so deeply into his skin that he felt as if he were being bitten. He rushed outdoors and saw his arm was swelling9. His hand and fingers were beginning to throb10.
He knew he must seek help, so he ran into the forest to find the wise old hermit11 who lived there. The old man examined him carefully and handed him some leaves. "These are best for snakebite," he said "Bind12 them around your arm and keep them wet."
"But I wasn't bitten by a snake," said the young man. "Those marks were made by my aunt's fingernails."
The old hermit shook his head in despair. "The touch of a snake-woman is even worse," he said, "but try these leaves. They should help"
The young man was appalled13. "Is my aunt really a snake- woman?" he asked.
"If you want to find out," the hermit replied, "stay awake tonight, and if a snake enters you room, cut off the tip of its tail."
The young man wasn't sure how this would help, but he thanked the hermit for his advice and returned to his uncle's house. By afternoon, he was happy to see that the wet leaves had reduced the swelling.
He watched his aunt closely that evening, but he didn't notice anything strange until she tasted her soup. She said it needed more "ssssseasoning" and lingered on the "s" as if she were hissing14. Her nephew felt gooseflesh rise from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He excused himself from the table and went up to his bedroom, but not to sleep.
He planned to watch for the snake all night long.
There was just enough moonlight for him to see the bottom of his door, so he blew out his candle and unsheathed his sword. Then he stood waiting.
He watched for hours wondering what the snake might do. What if it slithered through the window instead, crept up behind him, and struck him with its venomous fangs15? What if it slithered to the top of the wardrobe and dropped down from above? He was thinking of fleeing for his life, when he finally saw the snake glide under the door-first its head, then its body, then its tail.
Slash16! He swung the sword so quickly that the snake had no warning. And the tip of its tail began writhing17, all by itself, there on the floor. The snake raised its head as if to strike, but then it hissed18 viciously and slithered out of the room. And when he looked down the hall, he saw it disappear under his uncle's door.#p#分頁標題#e#
The young man couldn't stand looking at that quivering tail, so he scooped19 it up with his sword and flung it in a drawer. He hardly slept all that night, and when he did snakes chased him through his dreams.
The next morning, he opened the drawer a crack to look at the snake's tail and was amazed to see that it had turned into human toes.
He raced back to the forest to tell the hermit what had happened. "And now my aunt is staying in bed, but do you know what my aunt said? She told him she hurt her foot while sleepwalking!"
"Either she will fear you now," said the old man. "Or she will try to get rid of you. Listen carefully. If you think you are in danger, you must search her bedroom for her snakeskin, and when you find it, burn it."
The young man thanked the hermit, but he was concerned. What would happen if he burned the snakeskin? He decided20 to give his aunt one last chance.
While she was recovering, she caused no trouble, but as soon as her wound healed, she resumed her nightly slithering about the house.
Sometimes, when the young man was lying in bed, he saw the snake slip in and out of his empty boots or up the sleeve of a coat he had worn. One dreadful night, he felt the snake wiggling under his pillow, and he jumped out of bed in a cold sweat.
His dreams grew worse. He had a terrifying nightmare in which his aunt was trying to choke him. He awoke gasping21 for breath and realized that something was coiled tightly around his neck.
It was the snake.
老人很想能有個孩子，但是他和年輕的妻子膝下無兒無女，于是就叫了自己的侄子來一起住。老人妻子的脾氣很暴躁，但這樣卻把脾氣暴躁的妻子給惹怒了。當她丈夫熱情歡迎年輕人到來的時候，她卻嫉妒得連臉都白了。她的眼睛很小，腦袋又扁又平，當她舔著嘴唇的時候，侄子發(fā)現(xiàn)她的舌頭是分叉的。從他發(fā)現(xiàn)這些的那天開始，年輕人就盡可能多的陪著叔叔，同時盡量避免與嬸嬸碰面。但是嬸嬸似乎很喜歡嚇唬他，總是在年輕人最不想見她的時候突然出現(xiàn)在他面前。
一天晚上，年輕人很晚才回來。他點了根蠟燭拿著往樓上走去，上了一半的時候被一卷類似繩子的東西絆了一跤。當時繩子自己展開并且就從他眼皮底下上樓去了，見到這一切他簡直嚇壞了。隨后就見那股繩子穿過大廳從門底下鉆進了叔叔的臥室。
“快醒醒！快醒醒！”年輕人大聲喊著，同時用力敲著叔叔的房門，直到把手都敲疼了。但是過了很久，那他睡眼惺忪的叔叔才讓他進去，而這時蛇已經(jīng)不見了。
見嬸嬸像是睡著了，年青人就小聲在叔叔耳邊說：“我看見一條蛇。”但他叔叔此時睡得迷迷糊糊的根本反應不過來，開了門以后就回到床上鉆進被子里去了。年青人悄悄地開始在房間里面找，抽屜里，碗櫥里，墻角處，連床底下和椅子底下都看了。突然嬸嬸在床上坐起來，瞇著眼睛惡狠狠的瞪著他，他被看得汗毛都豎了起來，也覺得自己有點魯莽了。
“很抱歉打擾您睡覺了！”他大叫著，飛快地跑回自己的房間并使勁關(guān)上了房門。
第二天早上他醒來的時候，發(fā)現(xiàn)房門下面正中央有個弧形的小缺口，剛好夠一條蛇溜進來。他渾身哆嗦著下了床，走下樓來以后發(fā)現(xiàn)每間屋子的房門下方都有這么一個小洞，他簡直驚呆了。
嬸嬸正坐在餐桌前吃早飯，“你叔叔今天出去了，”她說道，同時用自己分叉的舌頭舔著嘴唇。他被嚇得連話都說不出來了，然而，他不說話，事情反而更糟糕。
“我不喜歡你那樣對待我，”她一邊說著一邊抓住他的胳膊，然后指甲深深的摳進皮膚里去，年輕人覺得自己像是被咬了一樣。他趕忙跑出去，見到胳膊已經(jīng)腫了起來，手掌和手指也隱隱作痛。
他知道自己必須要找人幫忙，于是跑進森林去了，那有位聰明的老隱士。老人仔細檢查了他的傷口然后給他幾片樹葉。“這是治蛇咬傷最好的藥了，”他說，“包扎在胳膊上并且保持濕潤。”
“但是我并不是被蛇咬傷的啊，”他說道，“傷口是被我嬸嬸用指甲摳的。”
老人絕望的搖搖頭，“如果是蛇女那就更糟糕了，但是也先試試這些葉子吧，會有幫助的。”
年輕人覺得不寒而栗，“我嬸嬸真是個蛇女？”他問道。
“如果你想知道答案，”老隱士說，“今晚別睡覺，要是有條蛇進了你的房間，把它的尾巴尖割下來。”
他并不知道這些會有什么用，但還是謝過了老人給他的建議，隨后回到了叔叔家。到了下午那樹葉起作用了，傷口腫得已經(jīng)沒有那么利害了，年青人很高興。
晚上他仔細打量嬸嬸，但是并沒發(fā)現(xiàn)什么異常。直到她喝湯的時候才有點不對勁，她說湯有點淡并且把“嘶”的音節(jié)拉得很長，就好像是蛇嘶嘶叫著的聲音。聽到這個聲音，年輕人就覺得雞皮疙瘩從腳底一直長到了頭頂，于是找個借口離開飯桌回屋去了，但是并沒有睡覺。
他打算在夜里等著那條蛇。
月光剛好能讓他看清房門底下的地方，于是他吹滅了蠟燭，拔出劍來站在那等著。
一連幾個小時他都盯著那，腦袋里想著那條蛇可能會做些什么。如果它從窗戶進來，在身后爬到自己身上用毒牙攻擊自己那該怎么辦呢？或者，那條蛇要是先爬到衣柜上然后再從上面下來呢？他正琢磨著是不是要先逃命，這時終于看見了蛇從房門下面悄悄的爬進來，先是腦袋，然后是身子，最后是尾巴。#p#分頁標題#e#
咔嚓！他迅速揮舞著手中的劍，蛇還沒有警覺到的時候尾巴尖就被削斷了，掉到地上以后還在扭動著。它抬起頭，似乎是要展開攻擊，但只是惡狠狠的嘶嘶叫了幾聲然后就爬出去了。他向樓下的客廳看去，只見蛇消失在了叔叔臥室的房門下。
看著那截還在扭動的尾巴，年青人心里直發(fā)毛，于是就用劍把尾巴挑了起來，甩到抽屜里去了。那晚上，他基本上沒怎么睡，因為，只要他一睡著，他就會夢見那條蛇在追他。
第二天早晨，當他把抽屜拉開一條縫去看那段尾巴，然而驚奇的發(fā)現(xiàn)尾巴變成了人的腳趾。
他趕忙跑回森林與老隱士講了事情的經(jīng)過，“嬸嬸正在床上休息，但是您知道她是怎么和我叔叔說的嗎？她說自己是在夢游的時候把腳弄傷的。”
“要么她會怕了你，”老人說道，“要么她就會想辦法徹底除掉你。仔細聽著，如果你覺得自己有危險了，那就必須去她的房間找到蛇皮然后燒掉。”
年輕人謝過了老隱士，但是他也在琢磨著，燒了蛇皮以后會怎么樣呢？他決定還是再給嬸嬸最后一個機會。
嬸嬸養(yǎng)傷期間什么異常情況都沒有了，但是傷口剛剛?cè)院笏屠^續(xù)和以前一樣每晚在房子里面到處游走。
有的時候，年輕人正躺在床上，就看見蛇爬進他的靴子里面然后又爬出來，或者爬到他的大衣袖子上。在一個可怕的夜晚, 他感覺到蛇在枕頭下面蠕動著，嚇得他出了一身冷汗，馬上跳下床。
他的噩夢越來越嚇人。有一天晚上，他甚至夢見嬸嬸想要勒死他，真是太可怕了。他馬上就驚醒了，大口喘著氣，這時意識到有東西緊緊地繞在脖子上。
正是那條蛇。
