Close encounter of a different kind

The python is a loving creature

A crushing embrace is his strong feature

He will give you room in his tummy

And call you ‘Yummy!Yummy!

So, beware of his musculature

------------------Charuavi



Sometime ago we had visited a Snake Park.



There was a big python there that attracted my attention. He was relaxing in a chair beside his swimming pool. His bathrobe was artistically arranged to reveal his strong torso. A bevy of young, female pythons slithered about totally naked. They had shed not only their clothes but also their skins. When I objected to their undress, they said it was a ‘wardrobe malfunction’.



I was all admiration for the fellow, but disapproved of the females.



“Hi, you there!” I said. “What a strong, muscular body you have. Are you a body-builder? How did you end up here?” (Avi does not mind my admiring male snakes.)



The python was pleased.



“No, I am body-demolisher” he said. “Oh, you can speak our tongue?” He asked. “I was under the impression that only Harry Potter is a Parselmouth. I was planning to go to England to meet him and tell him my story, but now there is no need for that. You will do fine. I do not like the cold England anyway.”



I was irritated. “What exactly do you mean by that? I have no intention of substituting for Harry Potter, wizard or no wizard.” I said.



“Oh, come on, lady! It is quite an interesting story, and I give you permission to put it for writing.com” he persuaded me.



“OK, Ancient Mariner, go on” I said.



“It is a sssssad ssssstory” he hissed.



“I was just out of my teens. Oh, those really wonderful, halcyon days of my youth! I was out of the college, had a good job and a couple of lissome, beautiful girlfriends. What more does a body want?



That is what I was thinking draping on a tree, when suddenly I became aware that my body wanted food, lots of delicious, nourishing food. I had not eaten for some months and I was ravenously hungry. Dieting has that effect on you sometimes” he added sheepishly.



“I took a good look around. I was searching for a prey, and what do you think I spotted?” He asked me.



“Oh, you must have spotted some harmless deer or a hare. You were certainly not going to attack a tiger or an elephant and eat it” I said disdainfully. The strong fence between us gave me the courage to do so.



“That is right. But, neither would any human priest sacrifice a tiger or an elephant to a God. All you humans CAN offer as a sacrifice are poor harmless goats and chickens” He retorted. I blushed for the humankind.



For a reptile, he was a very well-read and observant specimen.



“Anyway, that is totally beside the point.” He said. “The point is that I spotted a puny, thin creature coming down the jungle path. It was somewhat like a monkey, but without a tail and it was alone. It was hairless and moved only on two legs instead of four. Its two forelegs were hanging limp by its side. Obviously, it could not achieve much speed on two legs. Altogether, it was a poor, pathetic creature, not a juicy treat that I was dreaming of, but I was hungry.”



“I jumped on the creature from the tree and tried to wrap myself around it.



“To my surprise, the creature twisted and turned and was out of my embrace in a jiffy. In another second, IT had me by the tail. I could not get a grip on the creature’s body with the hooks on my tail, and could not whip myself around it. I tried to bite, but it clamped one of his ‘limp’ forelegs on my neck. I was totally helpless.



To my horror, it put me in a sack that it was carrying.”



It carried me to its village. I was exhibited to other creatures, and the story was our encounter was narrated in great length to all and sundry. The creature boasted how he had caught me first by the tail and then by the neck.



They all made a funny noise like the hyena makes. (Later I came to know that they were laughing.)



The creature sold me to the Snake Park and here I am now. However, I have been studying the ways of the humans and submitted my thesis to the Distance University. I will get my Ph. D. in a couple of months.” He added proudly.



“Mr. Python, interesting though your story is I do not believe a word of it.” I said “I do not believe that even a fully grown man is a match for a fully grown python. A man could not have turned the tables on you, the way you have described. Maybe only a specially trained snake-catcher could, but not every Tom, Dick or Harry.”



The python grinned. “Yes, you are right.” He said. “But it was not an ordinary man that I had attacked, but an Irula tribal, one of the best snake-catchers in the world, and as my luck would have it, he was a Master snake-catcher. No wonder, they all laughed like hyenas.”



Here Mr. Python gave me a full synopsis of his thesis on the Irula tribe. It appears that they are a scheduled tribe from Tamil Nadu. They specialize in the snake-catching trade.



It must have looked like an Irony of Fate to them that a silly python had tried to prey upon an expert snake-catcher.



“But, I was young and inexperienced” said the python apologetically.



“Yes, it is an interesting story” I said, “and I will put it up on writing.com.”



True to its snaky nature, he said,



“Any royalties that accrue on that story should be mine.”



You will wait a loooong time Mr. Python, for these royalties.