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Question
Why did the poet throw the log at the snake?
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Solution 1
On realising that the snake was about to recede as he turned his back, the poet hit him with a log in protest. The snake had mesmerised the poet with his beauty and so the poet did not want him to return to "that horrid black hole."
Solution 2
The poet at first admired the snake, but when his education overpowered his instinct, he concluded that a snake is a dangerous creature which has to be killed in order to prevent a potential attack in the future. He therefore threw a log at the snake.
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| But must I confess how I liked him, How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless, Into the burning bowels of this earth? |
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