The old man longed for children. But he and his young wife had none, so he invited his nephew to live with them. This infuriated his wife, who had a vile temper. When her husband welcomed the young man with great affection, she turned pale with jealousy. Her eyes narrowed and her head flattened. And when she licked her lips, her nephew saw that her tongue was forked. From that day on, the young man spent as much time as possible with his uncle and tried to avoid his aunt. But she seemed to enjoy startling him, suddenly appearing when he least expected her.

One evening, the nephew returned to the house quite late. He lit a candle and started up the stairs. Halfway up, he tripped on what seemed to be a coiled rope. Imagine his horror when that rope uncoiled and slithered up the steps in front of him! Then he saw it glide across the hall and under the door of his uncle’s bedroom.

"Wake up! Wake up" the young man shouted, and he knocked on the door until his knuckles hurt. But when his sleepy uncle finally let him in the bedroom, there was no snake in sight.

His aunt seemed to be sleeping, so the young man whispered in his uncle’s ear. "I saw a snake." But his uncle was too groggy to respond, and he slid back under the covers. The young man searched the room quietly, looking into drawers and cupboards and corners. He peered under the bed and behind chairs. He was beginning to think he was going mad when suddenly his aunt sat up in bed, narrowed her eyes, and gave him an evil look that made his flesh creep.

"I’m sorry to bother you," he cried, racing to his bedroom and firmly shutting the door.

When he awoke the next morning, he noticed that the bottom of his bedroom door was arched up in the center, leaving just enough space for a snake to slither through. He bolted out of bed trembling. When he went downstairs, he was shocked to see that every door in the house had a snake-sized arch beneath it.

His aunt was sitting at the table, eating. "Your uncle left for the day," she said, licking her lips with her forked tongue. The young man was too terrified to speak, but his silence only made matters worse.

"I don’t like the way you treat me," she said and grabbed his arm. Then she pressed her fingernails so deeply into his skin that he felt as if he were being bitten. He rushed outdoors and saw his arm was swelling. His hand and fingers were beginning to throb.

He knew he must seek help, so he ran into the forest to find the wise old hermit who lived there. The old man examined him carefully and handed him some leaves. "These are best for snakebite," he said "Bind them around your arm and keep them wet."

"But I wasn’t bitten by a snake," said the young man. "Those marks were made by my aunt’s fingernails."

The old hermit shook his head in despair. "The touch of a snake-woman is even worse," he said, "but try these leaves. They should help"

The young man was appalled. "Is my aunt really a snake- woman?" he asked.

"If you want to find out," the hermit replied, "stay awake tonight, and if a snake enters you room, cut off the tip of its tail."

The young man wasn’t sure how this would help, but he thanked the hermit for his advice and returned to his uncle’s house. By afternoon, he was happy to see that the wet leaves had reduced the swelling.

He watched his aunt closely that evening, but he didn’t notice anything strange until she tasted her soup. She said it needed more "ssssseasoning" and lingered on the "s" as if she were hissing. Her nephew felt gooseflesh rise from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He excused himself from the table and went up to his bedroom, but not to sleep.

He planned to watch for the snake all night long.

老人很想能有個孩子，但是他和年輕的妻子膝下無兒無女，于是就叫了自己的侄子來一起住。老人妻子的脾氣很暴躁，但這樣卻把脾氣暴躁的妻子給惹怒了。當她丈夫熱情歡迎年輕人到來的時候，她卻嫉妒得連臉都白了。她的眼睛很小，腦袋又扁又平，當她舔著嘴唇的時候，侄子發現她的舌頭是分叉的。從他發現這些的那天開始，年輕人就盡可能多的陪著叔叔，同時盡量避免與嬸嬸碰面。但是嬸嬸似乎很喜歡嚇唬他，總是在年輕人最不想見她的時候突然出現在他面前。

一天晚上，年輕人很晚才回來。他點了根蠟燭拿著往樓上走去，上了一半的時候被一卷類似繩子的東西絆了一跤。當時繩子自己展開并且就從他眼皮底下上樓去了，見到這一切他簡直嚇壞了。隨后就見那股繩子穿過大廳從門底下鉆進了叔叔的臥室。

“快醒醒!快醒醒!”年輕人大聲喊著，同時用力敲著叔叔的房門，直到把手都敲疼了。但是過了很久，那他睡眼惺忪的叔叔才讓他進去，而這時蛇已經不見了。

見嬸嬸像是睡著了，年青人就小聲在叔叔耳邊說：“我看見一條蛇。”但他叔叔此時睡得迷迷糊糊的根本反應不過來，開了門以后就回到床上鉆進被子里去了。年青人悄悄地開始在房間里面找，抽屜里，碗櫥里，墻角處，連床底下和椅子底下都看了。突然嬸嬸在床上坐起來，瞇著眼睛惡狠狠的瞪著他，他被看得汗毛都豎了起來，也覺得自己有點魯莽了。

“很抱歉打擾您睡覺了!”他大叫著，飛快地跑回自己的房間并使勁關上了房門。

第二天早上他醒來的時候，發現房門下面正中央有個弧形的小缺口，剛好夠一條蛇溜進來。他渾身哆嗦著下了床，走下樓來以后發現每間屋子的房門下方都有這么一個小洞，他簡直驚呆了。

嬸嬸正坐在餐桌前吃早飯，“你叔叔今天出去了，”她說道，同時用自己分叉的舌頭舔著嘴唇。他被嚇得連話都說不出來了，然而，他不說話，事情反而更糟糕。

“我不喜歡你那樣對待我,”她一邊說著一邊抓住他的胳膊，然后指甲深深的摳進皮膚里去，年輕人覺得自己像是被咬了一樣。他趕忙跑出去，見到胳膊已經腫了起來，手掌和手指也隱隱作痛。

他知道自己必須要找人幫忙，于是跑進森林去了，那有位聰明的老隱士。老人仔細檢查了他的傷口然后給他幾片樹葉。“這是治蛇咬傷最好的藥了，”他說，“包扎在胳膊上并且保持濕潤。”

“但是我并不是被蛇咬傷的啊，”他說道，“傷口是被我嬸嬸用指甲摳的。”

老人絕望的搖搖頭，“如果是蛇女那就更糟糕了，但是也先試試這些葉子吧，會有幫助的。”

年輕人覺得不寒而栗，“我嬸嬸真是個蛇女?”他問道。

“如果你想知道答案，”老隱士說，“今晚別睡覺，要是有條蛇進了你的房間，把它的尾巴尖割下來。”

他并不知道這些會有什么用，但還是謝過了老人給他的建議，隨后回到了叔叔家。到了下午那樹葉起作用了，傷口腫得已經沒有那么利害了，年青人很高興。

晚上他仔細打量嬸嬸，但是并沒發現什么異常。直到她喝湯的時候才有點不對勁，她說湯有點淡并且把“嘶”的音節拉得很長，就好像是蛇嘶嘶叫著的聲音。聽到這個聲音，年輕人就覺得雞皮疙瘩從腳底一直長到了頭頂，于是找個借口離開飯桌回屋去了，但是并沒有睡覺。

他打算在夜里等著那條蛇。