While lying on my bed, with all my limbs relaxed in deepest slumber,
I seemed to be filled with greater joy than I had ever felt before.
I was standing alone in verdant grass
In a meadow shielded from the rays of the sun
by shadows cast by newly foiled trees. I went along singing in this new springtime.
Then I laid me down in a spot where the verdure was softest.
But a hidden serpent came
upon me, as I lay stretched
on the grass, and pierced me.
The bite of the sharp fang seemed to burn me.
The viper drunk much of my blood,
and I felt like it drew forth my soul.
when it left, the day lost its brightness,
and a thick shadow covered all over,
and as the serpent crawled away, the sky grew lower
it dragged in its course the masses of black clouds.
The heavens became darker and darker, and I thought that the
sun had suddenly withdrawn and night had surely returned.
Flashes of lightning spread swiftly along the skies,
and crashing thunder appalled the earth.
I felt that the force of venom
was seeking to reach my heart,
expecting death at any moment,
I thought that the hour of my doom had arrived,
I was struck with terror, my inert body was convulsed with horror,
and so my deep slumber was suddenly broken.
I was awake but still alarmed by the things I had seen,
there was no wound so I began to feel safe, and I laughed.
fully awake, I raised my drowsy head,
and as soon as I saw the light of the new-risen sun I forgot everything.
