Once I roamed free with my brethren
But a great beast plucked me from the sand;
Now I lie in a glass-walled house
With iron bars above my head.
The beast who captured me calls me "snake",
He decides when I eat and when I don't.
Sometimes he feeds me dead, frozen mice;
Other times they are very much alive
He drops a live one into my dwelling;
I attack it quickly and give it a squeeze.
The mouse trembles for a moment, then it is still;
I devour the little creature quickly.
I do not like living in a box,
But at least I am alive and healthy.
And as long as the great beast lives,
I will be happy.