Once upon a time, there was a lady named Mery whose husband was not home for quite a long time because he had to work in a place far from home. So Mery stayed home with her daughter. One day, Mery went to find bamboo shoots in the forest. During the time digging a bamboo shoot, her spade was stuck in the hole of the bamboo’s roots. She tried to pull it out for quite a long time but was not successful. She thought of many ways how to take her spade but she could not find a proper way. So she said loudly hoping that someone might hear what she said and helped her.
“Whoever could pull my spade from the bamboo’s root, if he is a man I would make him my husband. If she is a lady, I would make her my best friend.”
During this time, the big snake “Geng Gong” was passing by and overheard what she said so he asked;
“ Really? Really?”
When Mery heard the inquiry she was a little suspicious but replied;
“Of course, of course” The big snake appeared and gave her a spade.
He asked;
“ Now you get your spade, how can I get to your house?”
When Mery heard that she replied;
“Don’t worry, I would peel the bamboo shoots and drop the peel along the way to my house.”
On the next day, she told her daughter to call the snake in front of the house.
“ Snake Geng Gong, my mother told me to call you, my father was away to work one or two year will come back once.”
When the snake heard the call, he went out from the hole. The child was extremely terrified so he ran away as far as he could.
It was like this for quite a long time until Mery’s husband was back from work in the place far away. He came across his frightened daughter running away from something. The girl looked ill as if she had not eaten anything for some time.
The father was suspicious so he asked;
“What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so skinny?”
The girl answered sadly;
“ Mother has a big snake as her husband. She always tells me to call the snake for her. I’m scared. I neither eat rice nor drink water.
The father was very angry. He then told his daughter to call the snake as she used to do. When the snake heard the call he came out. The father shot him dead with his sharp arrow then cut him into pieces and cooked for the wife who is pregnant.
While she was eating, Mery asked her husband;
“What kind of meat do you use for cooking this soup?
“ Ah..it’s chicken soup.” He replied.
At the same time, there was a crow flying in front of the house. The crow cried out;
“ Goog Goo, Goog Goo, Mery ate her snake husband. Its head was on the …………..its tail is on the top of the jujube tree”
When Mery heard that she looked at the directions which the crow told her and saw the snake’s head in front of the house and its tail on the top branch of the jujube tree. Realizing that her snake husband was killed, her tears came down the cheek. The husband saw that and asked her why she cried.
The wife said that it was because the soup was too spicy. When she finished eating, the husband persuaded her to go for a walk in the forest near the house. The weather was very hot so the wife was very tired. Moreover her stomach was very big due to her pregnancy. She could not stand her tiredness so she asked her husband to stop for bathing at the swamp. The husband kept thinking about the betrayal. He became more furious when he saw his wife’s big stomach. Feeling very furious and embarrassed, the husband took out his arrow and shot his wife’s belly. Many kinds of snakes came out of her belly. The husband became even madder, he killed many baby snakes. However, there were many that could be safe from being killed. This is how many kinds of snakes have been originated up to the present time.