The Bad Snake ( 1 ) This final snake - tale in this book is an adaptation of an old Buddhist Jataka story . It shows that " to care " does not always mean to be meek , mild , and passive . A bad snake lived in a forest outside a village . He was vicious , malicious , and mean . He would bite people just for fun - his fun , that is . When the bad snake became advanced in snake - year , he began to wonder what happens to snakes when they die . All his hissing life he had spat scorn on religions and those snakes that , in his opinion , were gullible and susceptible to such nonsense . Now he was interested . Not far from the snake ' s hole , on the top of a hill , lived a holy snake . All holy people live on the summit of a hill or mountain , even holy snakes . It ' s the tradition . one never hears of a holy man living in a swamp . < Useful ｅxpressions > 1 . adaptation : 각색 , 적응 2 . Jataka : 부처 의 전생 을 이야기 한 설화집 3 . not always : 항상 -- 한 것 은 아니 다 ( 부분 부정 ) 4 . meek : 온순 한 5 . vicious : 잔인 한 ( = cruel ) 6 . malicious : 악의 적 인 7 . be advanced in age ( life ) : 노경 에 들 다 8 . spit - spat - spat : ( 침 을 ) 뱉 다 9 . scorn : 경멸 10 . gullible / 걸러 블 / : 남 을 잘 믿 는 11 . susceptible ( to ) : 민감 한 12 . swamp : 늪 지