The White Snake

A young palace helper discovered a white snake resting beneath a silver cover. He gently carried it into the garden. In thanks, the magical snake gave him a gift: understanding animal voices.

That afternoon, the queen lost her ring. The helper heard a duck complain about a shiny object tangled near its foot. He freed the ring and returned it, explaining the surprising discovery.

The grateful queen gave him supplies for a journey. Beside a shallow pond, he heard three fish calling from trapped water. He opened a little channel so they could swim into deeper water.

Further along, an ant king warned that the path crossed his busy colony. The traveller chose another route. He watched tiny eggs being carried safely and promised not to disturb their home.

Under a tree, three young ravens waited hungrily while their parents searched for food. He shared crumbs from his bag. Soon the chicks were calling cheerfully, and their parents returned to thank him.

In another kingdom, the princess had arranged three puzzling challenges. First, someone must recover a golden ring lost in the sea. The traveller remembered the fish, who brought it back inside a shell.

The second challenge was to gather spilled millet before morning. Thousands of ants arrived during the night. Grain by grain, they filled the waiting sacks, leaving the garden clear by dawn.

For the last challenge, he needed a golden apple from a distant tree. He could not find the road. The three ravens, now strong flyers, crossed the hills and brought one back.

The princess admired the completed tasks, but admired his friends even more. He explained each earlier kindness. No creature had been too small, too strange or too ordinary for him to hear.

He stayed to care for the royal gardens, keeping paths safe for every creature. Sometimes the white snake visited. Whenever the world seemed quiet, the traveller knew there were voices worth hearing.