A Snake in The Grass

A Snake in the Grass
One afternoon, all the members of a family were taking rest inside their house. Suddenly,
a cyclist rang the bell of his cycle outside the door of the house. After one of the family
members opened the door, the cyclist said, “I have seen a cobra entering the compound of
your house.” After saying this, he went away.
Hearing that, the four sons and their mother became very worried. So, they assembled at
the gate. They found their old servant, Dasa, sleeping under a shade. After waking Dasa,
they said to him, "A cobra has entered the house. Wake up and kill it.”
Dasa dismissed the matter and tried to rest again. But the family forced him to search for
the cobra. They also threatened him by saying he would be dismissed from his job if he
did not find the snake.
In the meantime, some of the neighbours had already gathered around the house. They
also accused Dasa of being idle. But Dasa defended himself and said, “ I have been
demanding a grass-cutter daily. Had I had one, the snake would not have entered the
house.” Hearing this, the family members started to discuss buying a grass-cutter. They
also talked about how much a grass-cutter costs.
In the meantime, a college boy of the family came in and read statistical data that showed
the number of deaths caused by snake-biting. Seeing this, the family members grew more
worried than before.
Now, the boys brought a bamboo stick and gave it to Dasa. “Take the bamboo stick and
search for the snake.” So they, too, started looking for the snake in bushes and creepers.
They searched the cobra everywhere but could not find it.
When the servant could not find the snake even after searching for it everywhere, he
asked the others with a triumphant smile, “Where is the snake?”
In the meantime, an old beggar cried for money at the gate. They told her not to disturb.
“We are looking for a cobra,” they said. The old beggar forbade not to kill the cobra
because G. Subramanyam forbade its killing. Once the boys’ mother agreed, the old
woman took the coin and went away.
Shortly after, an old man came to the house and introduced himself as a snake-charmer.
The family gathered around him and told him that a cobra had entered the house. “Can
you bring it out?” Everyone asked the snake-charmer. But the snake-charmer said, “I can
do nothing if you do not show me the snake.” But before leaving, he gave his name and
address to the family members and told them to call him if they found the snake.
Around 5 PM in the evening, the family members were discussing the strategy of how to
catch the snake. When they were discussing, the servant, Dasa, suddenly came with a pot
in his hand and said, “I have caught the snake.” He also bragged about his bravery and
blamed the family members for calling him lazy. Finally, he said, “I will hand over the
snake to the snake-charmer.” Hearing this, the mother of the four boys appreciated Dasa.
Five minutes after Dasa left home with the pot, the youngest son of the house suddenly
cried out (screamed), “See over there! A cobra came out of the hole.” The snake must
have heard the scream. He just looked at the gathering, crawled under the gate, and
disappeared.
The mystery remains: if the snake was here, what was in the pot in Dasa’s hand? Was he
fooling everyone? Or were there two cobras inside the house? But, of course, this would
not have been a mystery had anyone opened the pot.
Moral
Trust but verify.
Summary of the Story

A Snake in the Grass story tells us that “we should always verify before trusting
everyone. Blind-trust will only lead us to troubles, just like the family members
faced.” The servant Dasa left them in a great confusion whether he told the truth about
catching the snake or he lied.
Conclusion
Kids love to read stories about animals and birds. But what if you give them something a
little different? A snake in the grass story by R.K. Narayan is one of the most simple
short stories of all time. Not only that, after reading this story, just like everyone, kids can
learn how to ask questions. If you elaborate the story a little further and help them to
understand more deeply, kids may learn about a snake in the grass story characters too.
A SNAKE IN THE GRASS
-R.K. Narayan
Cobra – entering the compound
On a sunny afternoon, when the inmates of the bungalow were at
their siesta, acyclist rang his bell at the gate frantically and
announced : ‘A big cobra has got into your compound. It crossed my
wheel. ‘He pointed to its track under the gate, and resumed his journey.
Search for the cobra – Dasa – a lazy servant
– s c o l d i n g D a s a – cutting the lawn
The family consisting of the mother and her four sons assembled
at the gate ingreat agitation. The old servant Dasa was sleeping in the
shed. They shook him out of hissleep and announced to him the arrival
of the cobra. ; ‘There is no cobra.’ He replied andtried to dismiss the
matter. They swore at him and forced him to take an interest in
thecobra. ‘The thing is somewhere here. If it is not found
before the evening. We will dismiss you. Your neglect of the
garden and the lawn is responsible for all these dreadfulthings coming
in. Some neighbours dropped in. They looked accusingly at
Dasa : ‘Youhave the laziest servant on earth,’ they said. ‘He ought to
keep the surroundings tidy.’ “Ihave been asking for a grass-cutter for
months, ‘Dasa said. In one voice they ordered himto manage with the
available things and learn not to make demands. He persisted.
They began to speculate how much it would cost to buy a grass-cutter.
A neighbour declaredthat you could not think of buying any article made
of iron till after the war. He chanted banalities or war-
time prices. The second son of the house asserted that he could getanythi
ng he wanted at controlled prices. The neighbor became eloquent on
black market.A heated debate followed. The rest watched in
apathy. At this point the college-boy of t h e h o u s e b u t t e d i n
with : ‘I read in an American paper that 30,000 people
d i e o f snakebite every year’ Mother threw up her arms in horror
and arraigned Dasa. The boyelaborated the statistics. ‘I have
worked it out, 83 a day. That means every twenty minutes
someone is dying of cobra-bite. As we have been talking here,
one person has1
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lost his life somewhere.’ Mother nearly screamed on hearing it.
The compound lookedsinister. The boys brought in bamboo-sticks and
pressed one into the hands of the servantalso. He kept desultorily
poking it into the foliage with a cynical air. ‘The fellow
is beating about the bush’, Someone cried aptly. ‘They tucked up
their dhotis, seized everyavailable knife and crow –bar and began to
hack the garden. Creepers, bushes, and lawn,were laid low. What
could not be trimmed was cut to the root. The inner walls of
thehouse brightened with the unobstructed glare streaming in. When
there was nothing moreto be done Dasa asked triumphantly, ‘Where is
the snake?’
Beggar – God Subrahmanya – Snake charmer
An old beggar cried for alms at the gate. They told her not to
pester when theywere engaged in a snake-hunt. On hearing it the
old woman became happy. ‘You arefortunate. It is God subramanya
who has come to visit you. Don’t kill the snake. Mother was in hearty
agreement : ‘You are right. I forgot all about the promised
abhishekam.This is a reminder.’ She gave a coin to the beggar, who
promised to send down a snake-charmer as she went. Presently an old
man appeared at the gate and announced himself asa snake-charmer.
They gathered around him. He spoke to them of his life and
activitiesand his power over snakes. They asked admiringly. How do
you catch them?’ ‘Thus,’ hesaid, pouncing upon a hypothetical
snake on the ground. They pointed the direction inwhich the
cobra had gone and asked him to go ahead. He looked helplessly
about andsaid: If you show me the snake, I’ll at once catch
it. Otherwise what can I do ? The moment you see it again,
send for me. I live nearby. He gave his name and address
anddeparted.
Sealed up the pot with the snake – Dasa, hero of the day
At five in the evening, they threw away their sticks and implements and
retired tothe veranda to rest. They had turned up every stone in
the garden and cut down everygrass-blade and shrub, so that the
tiniest insect coming into the garden should have nocover. They
were loudly discussing the various measures they would
take to protect themselves against reptiles in the future, when
Dasa appeared before them carrying awater-pot whose mouth was
sealed with a slab of stone. He put the pot down and said: ‘I2

have caught him in this. I saw him peeping out of it… I saw him before
he could see me.’He explained at length the strategy he had employed to
catch and seal up the snake in the pot. They stood at a safe distance and
gazed on the pot. Dasa had the glow of a championon his face. ‘Don’t
call me an idler hereafter,’ he said Mother complimented him on
hissharpness and wished she had placed some milk in the pot as a
sort of religious duty.Dasa picked up the pot cautiously and walked
off saying that he would leave the pot withits contents with the
snake-charmer living nearby. He became the hero of the day.
Theywatched him in great admiration and decided to reward him
adequately.
Snake disappearing along a drain – are there two snakes ?
It was five minutes since Dasa was gone when the youngest
son cried: ‘See there!’ Out of a hole in the compound wall a
cobra emerged. It glided along towards thegate, paused for a moment
to look at the gathering in the veranda with its hood half-opened.
It crawled under the gate and disappeared along a drain. When
they recovered from the shock they asked : ‘Does it means that there
arte two snakes here?’ The
college- boy murmured : ‘I wish I had taken the risk and knocked the wa
ter-pot from Dasa’shand; we might have known what it contained.

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