I was a little boy playing in the yard at home. How old? Five, maybe six. I could just hear my father and mother in the workshop. Suddenly, I stopped playing to watch a snake near the workshop. After a moment, I went over to him. I had a long piece of grass in my hand. I pushed this into the snake’s mouth. He did not try to get away. He was enjoying our little game. He was slowly eating the grass, his mouth coming nearer and nearer to my hand. I was laughing. I had no fear. I did not know that the snake was dangerous.
Suddenly, I felt my self lifted off my feet. I was safe in my father’s arms. Everybody was shouting my mother louder than anyone else. She hit me several times. But it was the sudden noise more than her blows that made me cry. Later, when it was quiet, my mother warned me never to play such a game again. I promised, but I could not see why it was dangerous.
The boy cried because _________.
the snake would bite him
he was afraid of the snake
people were shouting loudly at him
his mother hit him several times