There once lived a poor farmer in a small village.
The village had been affected by drought for three years.
The farmer's land had dried up.
The winter had set in.
One chilly evening, the farmer was resting under a tree in his land.
As he looked around, he saw a serpent sitting by a burrow.
"The serpent lives here," thought the farmer.
" But I have never seen it so I can be a friend.
That is why my land has dried up during the drought.
Henceforth, I will become a friend to this serpent regularly."
The farmer ran home and brought some milk.
He placed the vessel of milk in front of the burrow and said, "O my friend! I did not know that you live here.
Please forgive me.
But now I promise to be your friend always and also feed you every day."
Saying this, the farmer offered milk to the serpent and went home.
When he returned to his land the next morning, he saw something shining in the vessel!
From that day, every day the, the farmer would offer milk to the serpent and get a good coin in return!
One day, the farmer had to go to another village for some work.
He asked his son to offer milk to the serpent every day.
That evening, the son went to the serpent to offer some milk.
When he returned there the next morning, he saw a gold coin in the vessel!
The son thought, "This serpent is very stingy.
I am sure there are countless gold coins in its burrow.
Yet it gives only one gold coin every day.
If I kill this serpent, I will get all the gold coins at once."
The next day, when the son went to offer milk to the serpent, he hit it on it's head with a stick.
The serpent was furious.
It bit the farmer's son and killed him.
The serpent, too, was injured badly on it's head.
Writhing in in pain, it slithered slowly into it's burrow.
The farmer's relatives performed the funeral rites of the farmer's son.
When the farmer returned home, he was shocked to hear about the death of his son.
He was angry with the serpent.
But when the serpent told him what had actually happened, the farmer said, "O serpent ! I know it was my son's fault.
I apologize on his behalf."
The farmer then offered some milk to the serpent and again said,
"Please forgive my son."
The serpent said, "Look at the funeral pyre of your son and look at
