Child of the Snakes

The myth

All variations of the work, "Child of the Snakes", contain a similar plotline. The story begins with the opening scene of a child wishing for friends while praying to Gyuaz. Gyuaz answers the child's prayer, filling their home with snakes the next day. The child, when seeing the snakes the next morning, screamed and started trying to kill them. Gyuaz, slightly angered by the way the child was acting to his generous gift, sent down a messenger who tried to explain the situation to the child. However, it only made the child more inclined to kill the snakes when they found out they had been created by Gyuaz, fearing the snakes would try and take their life. After the child killed all but one snake, Gyuaz became infuriated with them. Gyuaz made the snake lunge forward and bite the child, turning them into a humanoid serpent.

While this story has been adapted in many ways to fit the culture of different groups, the lesson remains the same, sometimes, what you think is a curse might be a blessing in disguise.

Spreading

This story originally came from jungle elves. It was commonly told at town gatherings to entertain the children who would run amuck. After most of the jungle elves had relocated into common towns because of deforestation, the story began to spread through these newly built communities. It was still told as a way to entertain the children, but over time, many adaptations were made to fit into cultural norms in different societies.

The original telling (translated into common)

Dear Gyuaz, Pythus prayed, hands in his lap as he felt the incense filling his nose. I am so lonely, won't you send me friends I can play and talk with?

And so Gyuaz did. Once the child had laid in his bed, they began to fill every crevice with snakes. The snakes were not dangerous. They were only meant to be playful so the boy would enjoy being friends with the scaly creatures.

When the boy awoke the next morning, he screamed. Snakes filled his bed and every corner of his room. Gyuaz observed from the heavens above, thinking the screams were of joy, but as the boy started to bash the heads of the snakes, they became angered. Gyuaz sent a messenger down from the heavens, wanting the boy to know the snakes were a gift. However, when the messenger returned, she reported the boy started to kill more of the snakes, fearing they would try and kill him. Soon, the walls of the house were covered in reptilian blood. Gyuaz, while a forgiving god, had watched the boy kill 99 snakes they had given him. As the boy stood in front of the last snake, Gyuaz made it lunge forward and bite the boy. He screamed out in agony, the fangs sinking deep into his skin. He could feel himself slowly changing, turning into the thing he had killed so many of. His skin was slowly shedding, starting at his legs. The boy thrashed, screaming and crying. The snake flung off just as the bottom half of his body had finished shedding. With the snake no longer biting him, none more of his flesh shed. But the boy was stuck with a serpent's lower half, the scales never leaving his body.