One day she was traveling down the Amazon River in a canoe carved out of a single tree trunk, while natives of the jungle sat in front of her and in back of her paddling as fast as they could to get away from an alligator who was chasing them. That old lady who is sitting there, half-asleep, was once a beautiful young lady. “That snake is a heroic snake, not an evil snake. “Is that snake safe?” Alice asked her grandfather in a low voice, curling up against him.
