The Snake's Salvation

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A woman from Kippenheim, who was in an advanced stage of her pregnancy, once slept at noon in the vineyards of the area. Then a snake crawled into her open mouth. Her small daughter, who was sitting next to her and noticed this, attempted to grab the snake by its tail and pull it back. But it was too late, it slithered into the body of the woman and vanished within it. There it remained calm and did not cause any further complaints for the woman. However, when the woman gave birth to an infant soon after, the snake had wrapped itself around the child’s head so tightly that it was only possible to detach it with a milk bath.

But the snake did not part from the child’s side, lay in bed next to it, and ate from its bowl. Because the child was not harmed by the snake and dearly loved the creature, the parents left the two of them together without disturbing them.

Six years had passed in this manner when the snake once did not want to eat the overly large chunks of bread in a milk soup. The child grew so angry over this that they struck the snake’s head with the spoon and spoke the word: “Eat the chunks as well, not just the broth!”

From that moment on, the snake became very sad, and, after some time, completely vanished from the house. It was searched for everywhere, from the roof to the cellar, and finally in the huge pile of rubble which had lain undisturbed in the yard since the Swedish War. Deep within it they found a cauldron full of money, and the snake was lying next to it, clearly dead.

Suddenly, it was gone, and a snow-white man appeared in its place and spoke: “I was the snake, and the child was destined to release me. Now you will have the money and are rich, but I shall eternal bliss!”

After these words, he vanished.

Source: Schnezler - Badisches Sagen-Buch Zweite Abtheilung, p. 1f