There were in that time no humans. Only the beasts, who had the wisdom of the oldest sage. In that time, serpents were of all colors, vermillion and scarlet and carnelian and aquamarine, and their God came and went among them.
One day there came a new creature who was called Man. He was cowardly and shivered from cold and fear, and so the beasts believed that he was no threat to them. And out of all the animals, the creature he feared most was the serpent.
But Man is nothing if not a quick learner. Soon he built fires to ward off the chill and the night. He fashioned spears that flew like the wind and could pierce even the wild elephant’s hide. But the creature he hunted most was the serpent.
Soon only those whose colors were dull were alive – brown and green and black and dustgray – and they came before their God to beseech him.
Their God said to them, If you desire it, I will give unto you the shape of your enemy so that he shall be slower to know you.
And when they heard this, some of the serpents chose not to endure that shame and went into the dark places where they would be hidden. But some stayed.
And their God said, You will wear their form, but your eyes and your teeth and your voice shall betray you to those who look and listen.
And when this was told to them, some of the serpents chose not to be tainted by the touch of Man, and they went into the dark places where they would be hidden. But some stayed.
And at last their God said, You will take your form in its whole and in its half. But there will always be danger. Is this what you truly desire?
And many of them went into the dark places. But some stayed. And they became the Naga, the snake-people. But their eyes and their teeth and their voice still betray them, to those who look, and listen.
Ss’sha ne maa.
And so the beginning ends.
