THE SNAKE IN A GOBLET (REVISED by BOST, 2026)
THE SNAKE IN
A GOBLET (REVISED by BOST, 2026)
Once upon a time there was an immensely powerful Governor of
a frontier province, honest but severe. His excellency’s name was Teddor Suran;
he was in his mid twenties, which was young for a Governor, six feet tall, had white
long blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. He wasa brilliant tactician, an athletic
warrior and, by all accounts a very handsome young man.
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| 01 A- GOVERNOR TEDDOR SURAN- JP |
Like so many astute officials, he frowned on idle chatter; however, his position required him to at least stay connected with the local gentry. Even so, he would quite often opt out of the many frivolous social obligations, seeing them as waste of his time. In those infrequent times away from his duties, he much preferred solitary hunting trips. He only had one vice, if it could be called that, for he liked collecting exquisitely crafted hunting weapons.
Squire Yoren, who had an inflated sense of himself so common
to that class of opulent gentry, could not accept being shunned by the Governor
and so, after some coercion, had obtained a reluctantly proffered invitation to
dinner.
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| 02- SQUIRE YOREN |
Received graciously, Squire Yoren was ushered to a private hall where he was served a modest feast and some choice wine. Having proposed a toast, Yoren raised the goblet to his lips and was about to take a sip when his eyes suddenly caught a coloured snake wriggling up from the bottom of his cup.
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| 03- YOREN SEES SNAKE IN HIS CUP- JP |
As it would have been rude to do otherwise, he constrained his fright and drank it anyway. There was no sensation of the snake passing dawn his throat, therefore Yoren deemed it to be a supernatural phenomenon, or some form of spell and from that moment on began to feel ill.
Seething with anger he returned home and at once called for
the family physician. The physician, despite his extensive examination, could
find absolutely nothing wrong with Yoren. The Squire, nevertheless, still felt
seriously ill and took to his bed from then on. Seeing his demise approaching
ever nearer, he eventually decided to unburden the source of his grave trouble
to his closest friend Reok.
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| 04- YOREN IS SICK IN BED.JP |
“I have been wronged so needlessly. “He exhaled in a whimper at the end of his fantastic accounts. “After my passing, I beseech you to avenge my death!”
Aggrieved at his friend’s condition, but being a more
reasonable person, Reok extracted a promise from Yoren to hang on to life till
his return.
After some finagling, Reok attained a private invitation
with the Governor Teddor Suran.
He too was received graciously and ushered to the same hall.
At the conclusion of their discussion of the fake (fabricated) pressing matter
of state, he was asked to stay on for some food and refreshments.
Seated in the same honoured seat as his friend, Reok raised
the goblet of wine to his lips. Lo and behold, he too saw the same vision as
his friend at the bottom of the goblet. Hesitating for a second, he took
a generous sip, and then discretely looked about him.
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| 05- ROEK - JP |
Hah, there was the culprit! Suppressing a chuckle, Roek’s eyes remained fixed for a spell on the magnificent bow, hanging from the high ceiling.
The Governor Teddor Suran, seeing the object of his
attention at once volunteered, “I was most fortunate to have acquired that rare
hunting bow from a Chief of the Gugeos tribe. Isn’t it magnificent?”
“Indeed, it is.” Roek exclaimed, after partaking of more
wine. “It looks decidedly deadly, carved with such meticulous detail to imitate
a venomous snake.”
He kept the rest to himself, deciding to spare his
foolish friend any further humiliation.
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| 06- ROEK LAUGHS- JP |
Only when the Governor Teddor Suran's attention was directed elsewhere, on some pretense, Roek let out a laugh he could no longer supress.
Fin
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