Our elders in Suruç used to say that it is a serpent’s greatest longing to look, safe and sound, into the eyes of a human for just one day.
Since the world began, the elders said, neither have snakes truly seen the eyes of humans, nor have humans truly seen the eyes of snakes. Because just as humans harbor a deep dread of snakes, snakes harbor the same dread of humans. Both sides are terrified of one another, according to those elders. Because of this fear and this mystery, there is a story in the mythology of the Dersim elders regarding snakes and human eyes.
They say that when the Great Flood rose, a mouse in the ark of the Prophet Noah went and gnawed a hole in a corner, and water began to leak into the ship. They say Noah cursed the deed and the mouse, but no matter what he did, he could not stop the water. He stood up and looked at the animals around him and said: “Whoever stops this water, I will give them whatever they ask of me.”
From among the animals, they say, the snake rose up, stuffed its long tail into the hole through which the water was entering, and blocked the path of the flood, stopping the leak. After the storm, when Noah went to the snake and said, “Now tell me, what is it you desire?”, the long-tailed snake replied: “I want the eyes of humans.”
Upon this request, Noah said: “God created humans, not I. They do not belong to me; I cannot give you something that belongs to a human.”
The long-tailed snake insisted, “No, by all means, I must have the eyes of humans.” He would not let it go, insisting to Noah: “Go then; go to whoever created humans, go to Him and speak with Him.”
Noah, seeing there was no escape and no other remedy, went before God and explained the situation. As the myth goes, God told Noah: “Since you did not give away what belongs to Me and instead came to Me, I will give that snake what it desires. But let it be patient; after my servants have died, let it go and claim what was promised.”
They say Noah returned and relayed God’s word to the long-tailed snake, and the snake accepted, saying “Very well.”
Based on this legend, it is said that every grave has its own snake. After a body is buried, the snakes come to eat the eyes, and only then do the other insects and worms follow.
In his novel Zorba the Greek, the author Nikos Kazantzakis says through his character that in parts of Africa, the snake is a precious and holy animal. According to them, because every part of that creature touches the earth, it knows all the secrets of the world.
Kazantzakis says—paraphrasing through his character—that those who lean entirely upon the earth from head to toe are filled with strength and power. Even when life strikes them, they do not fall easily; they remain standing until they finally return to the soil.
I am on my feet, it is my own two legs that touch the earth today; but at night, I see a dream—a serpent, black as pitch, dark and soaring, stands before my grave. It stares into my eyes, it searches my gaze, and it awakens me from the slumber of heedlessness. I am frightened; I have only a few more podcast episodes left in this life.
Omer Faruk Baran
The original version of this letter is in Kurdish and was featured on the Perxudres Podcast.
