Tonight, a song. But listen carefully, because you already know this story. It is more than two thousand years old.
Learn from Songs · Unit 11: Reported speech · B1–B2 · Kindness and betrayal
The Snake
A soul song from 1968 that is really an Aesop fable: a kind woman, a frozen snake, and a promise that is broken. Reported speech (say, tell, ask, promise, warn), phrasal verbs of kindness (take in, look after, bring round) and the vocabulary of trust and betrayal, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
A song from the Library?
PHILO
Wait… a woman, a snake, and kindness that goes wrong? That’s Aesop! The Farmer and the Viper!
SOPHIA
Exactly, Philo. Oscar Brown Jr. wrote the song in 1963, and Al Wilson made it famous in 1968. Aesop told it first.
Before you listen: Aesop’s fable
The Farmer and the Viper, after Aesop
One winter morning, a Farmer found a Viper lying in the snow, stiff and almost dead with cold. The Farmer felt sorry for it. He picked it up, put it inside his coat, and carried it home to warm it by the fire.
Slowly, the Viper came back to life. And as soon as it was warm and strong again, it bit the Farmer who had saved it.
“Why?” said the dying Farmer. “I saved your life!”
“You knew what I was,” said the Viper, “when you picked me up.”
Some creatures do not change their nature, however kindly you treat them.
Listen: the story in the song
MARCOS
In the song, it isn’t a farmer. It’s a kind woman, and the snake talks to her!
SOPHIA
Yes. Listen once for the story: where does she find the snake, what does she do, what does the snake ask, and what happens at the end? Then listen again and answer Section A.
🐍 Listen to the song: “The Snake” (Oscar Brown Jr., 1963), sung by Al Wilson (1968).Listen on YouTube Music →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “The Snake”, Al Wilson.Read the lyrics →
Reported speech: what they said
DEMETRIA
The snake asked her to take him in. She said she would look after him. He promised he wouldn’t hurt her.
SOPHIA
Good. In reported speech, tenses usually move back: “I will look after you” → she said she would look after him. “I am cold” → he said he was cold. Say + (that); tell + person: she told him that…
PHILO
And verbs like ask, beg, promise, warn have their own patterns.
SOPHIA
Yes: ask / beg / tell someone to do; promise to do or promise that; warn someone not to do; refuse to do. Reporting verbs are shorter and say more than “said”.
Kindness and betrayal
MARCOS
She took him in, looked after him, and brought him round. And he turned on her!
SOPHIA
Well done, Marcos. take someone in = give them a home. look after = take care of. bring someone round = make them conscious again. nurse someone back to health. And turn on someone = suddenly attack them.
DEMETRIA
She was so tender-hearted, and he was so ungrateful. He betrayed her trust.
SOPHIA
tender-hearted / kind-hearted; ungrateful (≠ grateful); betray someone / betrayal; trust (verb and noun); deceive. And the snake’s excuse: it is his nature.
SOPHIA
Remember what the snake says at the end, in the song and in Aesop: you knew what I was. Is that an excuse? Is kindness foolish? Or is the snake simply wicked? Keep that question for the discussion.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| said (that); told + person (that) | reporting statements | She said she would look after him. |
| asked / begged / told + person + to | reporting requests | He begged her to take him in. |
| promised (that) / promised to; warned + person + not to | reporting promises and warnings | He promised he wouldn’t bite her. |
| take in; look after; bring round; turn on | phrasal verbs of kindness and betrayal | She took him in. He turned on her. |
| tender-hearted, ungrateful, betray, trust | describing people and actions | He betrayed her trust. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the story
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where does the woman find the snake?
2. What is wrong with the snake?
3. What does the snake ask her to do?
4. What does she do for him?
5. What happens when she hugs him?
6. What is the snake’s answer when she asks why?
B · Reported speech and vocabulary
Write the missing word.
7. “I’m freezing,” said the snake. → The snake said that he freezing.
8. “Please take me in.” → He begged her to him in.
9. “I will look after you.” → She promised that she look after him.
10. She took the snake and gave him a home.
11. She nursed him back to .
12. He was very : he never thanked her. (grateful, opposite)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He said me that he was cold.”
14. “She asked him why he had bitten her.”
15. “He promised not to hurt her.”
16. “She looked after of him for weeks.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Compare. What is the same, and what is different, in Aesop’s fable and the song? (Who saves the snake? Where? What does the snake promise? What is the ending?)
Discuss. 1. Was the woman foolish, or good? 2. Is “it’s my nature” an excuse? 3. Do you know other stories like this, for example the scorpion who asks a frog to carry him across a river? 4. Should we stop helping people because some of them might betray us?
Write (120–150 words). The woman tells her story. You are the woman. Tell a friend what happened, in reported speech: He said that… He begged me to… He promised that… When I asked him why…
Listen to the song again, now that you know where the story comes from.Listen on YouTube Music →