Page 5 - SB-Tanya the Tattling Rattler

I landed in a large dead tree at the mouth of the cave. There, coiled on the highest branch was Sally. She said that she figured that I would land in the tree and not on the ground so she climbed up there to meet me. When I looked down, I saw the earth looked alive with all the wiggling snakes crawling into the cave.
Sally looked at me and gave a little laugh. “Cosmos,” she said, “You know we are non-poisonous and we don’t eat crows ... ugh.” I was a little insulted. After all, I’m glad they don’t eat crows but I thought the “ugh” was unnecessary. Fixed the right way, crow can be quite delicious, I’ve been told.
Well anyway, we stayed in the tree and watched the snakes slide into the cave. I asked Sally what happens at a Slither. “Well lots of things,” she told me. “We get to talk about what has been happening with each other. You know, who’s had babies and how many. Most of us use this opportunity to shed our skins and grow a little and of course there is the Telling of Tales.”
This was news to me so I asked Sally about the Telling of Tales. She explained that it is how one generation passes knowledge on to the next generation. “You know,” she told me, “We have no written language ... no hands (her little joke). So this is how we learn our history.”
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