Viper's wife was sick so he went to Squirrel to get her fortune told.
"Your wife will recover," Squirrel said, "but people will kill you, cut off your head, and put it on a stick."
"Impossible!" shouted Viper. "I'll find a real fortuneteller."
Viper went to Civet, who said the same: "People will kill you, cut off your head, and put it on a stick."
Filled with anger, Viper slithered under a bush, forgetting his wife entirely.
People found him there.
They cut off his head and put it on a stick.
Just as the fortunetellers told him would happen!
Inspired by: "The Viper Has His Fortune Told" in Bulu Tales from Kamerun, West Africa (published in Journal of American Folkklore) by Adolph N. Krug, 1912.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The squirrel and civet also tell the viper what the people will do with his entrails and liver!
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