How then can you be a match for him , my son ? ' ` Mind your own business , mother , ' answered the gazelle , ` and do n't mind other people 's ! Has this snake a sword ? ' ` He has a sword , and a sharp one too . It cuts like a dash of lightning . ' ` Give it to me , mother ! ' said the gazelle , and she unhooked the sword from the wall , as she was bidden . ` You must be quick , ' she said , ` for he may be here at any moment . Hark ! is not that the wind rising ? He has come ! ' They were silent , but the old woman peeped from behind a curtain , and saw the snake busy at the pots which she had placed ready for him in the courtyard . And after he had done eating and drinking he came to the door : ` You old body ! ' he cried ; ` what smell is that I smell inside that is not the smell of every day ? ' ` Oh , master ! ' answered she , ' I am alone , as I always am ! But to-day , after many days , I have sprinkled fresh scent all over me , and it is that which you smell . What else could it be , master ? ' All this time the gazelle had been standing close to the door , holding the sword in one of its front paws . And as the snake put one of his heads through the hole that he had made so as to get in and out comfortably , it cut it of so clean that the snake really did not feel it .
The second blow was not quite so straight , for the snake said XXXXX himself , ` Who is that who is trying to scratch me ? '
after as at from in of over that through to