The Little Boy and the Rattlesnake
A Cherokee Legend
Often times young boys were sent from the village in search of a vision. This was the case of one particular young native boy.
He started to go up to the top of a mountain in search of his vision. And as he climbed up the mountain, the air got cooler and cooler. And he came upon a snake laying in the path. The snake was shivering, and said to the boy. "Please help me. I can't move, I am so cold that I can no longer make it any further down the mountain."
The boy said to the snake "No way! You're a snake, if I pick you up, you'll bite me!" The snake replied. "No, no I won't, I promise I won't bite you if you'll only pick me up and help get me down the mountain."
So the young boy picked up the snake, put him in his shirt, and continued climbing to the top of the mountain in search of his vision. When he got back down to the bottom of the mountain, he reached in, took out the snake, and the snake bit the young boy.
The boy replied to the snake "Hey! You bit me, you said that if I'd help you out, that you wouldn't bite me!"
The snake replied "But you knew what I was when you picked me up!"