 In his fable the snake seeks sanctuary in a peasant home and pleads to be taken in as a servant.The peasant replies that he cannot take the risk of endangering his family and kills the snake.In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Egotism or The Bosom-Serpent" (1843), the proverbial phrase as used in Milton's Samson Agonistes was given a new psychological twist.