Page:Slavonic Fairy Tales.djvu/112



there lived a king who was so clever that he could understand all that the animals said to one another. Listen how he came to know this. One day an old woman brought him a snake in a basket, and said if he would have it cooked, and would eat it, he would understand what the animals and living creatures, whether on land, in the air, or in the water, said. The king was pleased at the idea of knowing more than any other man, paid the old woman well for her present, and ordered one of his servants to cook the "fish" immediately for dinner.

"But mind," added the king, "you do not taste it; if you do you will answer to me for it with your head;"

Irik, the servant, thought it very strange that the king should forbid him so strongly to taste the dish.