A labourer's little son was bitten by a snake and died of the wound. The father, beside himself with grief and anger, grabbed an axe and stood by the snake's hole, waiting for a chance to kill it. When the snake emerged, the man struck at it but only managed to cut off the tip of its tail before it wriggled back into its hole.
He then tried to lure the snake out again, pretending he wished to make peace. But the snake said, "I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because of your lost child."
Injuries are never forgotten in the presence of those who caused them.