ENG
As seasons turn, from slumber it parts,
Hidden in green, a hunter with arts.
Small in shape, it devours the grand,
Or strikes a pain no cure can stand.
In the kingdom of Hhami, a small city stood against the mountainside, its lush grasses and dense forests a haven for serpents, much to the townsfolk's constant dismay.
There lived in this city a snake hunter, masterful in his craft, who had freed the people from many a serpent's threat, earning a fair share of silver in the process. He boasted not of his wealth; instead, he often dispensed porridge to the needy and prayed for all. So revered was he that the magistrate awarded him a dwelling for all his family to live within the town walls.
One day, a ragged monk, seemingly delusional, came begging at his door. The snake hunter's kind-hearted wife offered clothes and food, but the monk, unsatisfied, demanded liquor. The crowd scorned his impudence, their complaints growing loud until the snake hunter's return. He silenced the clamor and instructed his wife to bring the monk a gourd of spirits.
Touched by the gesture, the monk warned, "A serpent guai lurks in your home. Ignore it not, or your family shall perish." The snake hunter scoffed at such mad ramblings and dismissed him promptly. Yet, his wife heeded the monk's words and urged her husband to search for the guai. He, however, brushed aside her concerns.
In her persistence, the wife fetched the mad monk once more to banish the evil. Indeed, with raw meat and an iron hook, the monk drew from their home a massive serpent, taller than a man, clearly a creature of power. "Four limbs it sprouts, and venom deadly," the monk declared. "A mere touch is death." With those words, he slew the serpent guai for the woman.
Strangely thence, the town remained untouched by further snake scourges, as if by the mad monk's hand, peace was restored.
The story takes place in Hhami, a small city on a mountainside surrounded by lush grass and dense forest that shelter many snakes. The prologue lines describe a particular kind of serpent that wakes with the seasons, hides in the greenery, and though small in shape can either prey on much larger animals or cause wounds and poison that are incurable.
A local snake hunter is the main human figure: he is skilled and has killed many serpents, earning silver for his work. He is also generous—feeding the needy and praying for everyone—so well respected that the magistrate gave him a house inside the town walls for his family.
One day a ragged, apparently mad monk came begging at the hunter’s door. The hunter’s wife gave him clothes and food, but he demanded liquor, offending the crowd. When the hunter returned he calmed the people and told his wife to give the monk a gourd of spirits. In return the monk warned that a serpent guai lived in their home and that if it was ignored the family would die. The hunter dismissed the warning as madness, but his wife took it seriously and asked him to search the house.
The wife went back to get the monk and he performed what he called a banishing. Using raw meat and an iron hook, the monk drew out a huge serpent from their home—taller than a man and strangely sprouting four limbs. The monk declared the creature venomous, saying even a touch would be fatal, and then killed it for the family.
After the serpent was killed, the town experienced no more snake scourges. The implication is that the creature the monk found—the guai—was an unusually dangerous serpent and that the monk, despite his ragged appearance, had the knowledge or ability to find and destroy it. The hunter’s initial disbelief was proven wrong, and the monk’s actions brought lasting peace from the snake threat.