The winter was cold, and the porcupine needed to find shelter. He went from one house to another, and all refused him, until finally he arrived at the snake's house.
"Let me in, snake!" said the porcupine.
The good-hearted snake let the porcupine in.
The porcupine then got nice and warm, but the snake's house was small, and the snake did not like being pressed against the porcupine's prickles.
"There's not room for both of us," said the snake.
"Well, you can leave if you want," replied the porcupine, "but I'm going to stay."
Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Inspired by: Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists by Roger L'Estrange, 324.
Notes: This fable is not part of the classical Aesop tradition; find out more here. L'Estrange told it about a hedgehog, but it is often told about porcupines also, so I chose that option.
Here is an illustration by Charles Livingston Bull:
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