A few years ago, I was travelling through Taipei in
Taiwan and I decided to try snake blood. According to
Chinese medicine, snake blood is very healthy and some
The Market in Taipei
A Strange Drink people also believe it has magical properties. For this reason,
Afraid of Snakes
many people in certain parts of Asia drink it, and I wanted to be
one of them.
I walked through the market place of Snake Alley and
stopped in front of a merchant with snakes. Td like to try some
snake blood,' I told him and he said with a smile, 'At your own risk!' He then took a snake from a large
cage and tied a rope around its head. While the snake was hanging in the air, he cut it with a knife and
squeezed its blood into a clear glass.
When he handed it to me, I suddenly felt afraid. “What does snake blood taste like? Is it tasty?' I
thought. As I was raising the glass to my lips, I smelt something bitter and metallic like copper or lead. I
.
Ebre
then began to drink.
The blood was thick like gravy. It had a terrible, sweet and salty
taste. I was feeling dizzy and sick while I was drinking it. But I wanted
to finish the entire glass. There were many people around me at that
time. As soon as I finished, they all looked at me for a response. I just
smiled, so the merchant offered me another glass. No way!' I shouted
and everyone started laughing. Back home, a doctor friend of mine told
me I was lucky not to get very ill, because sometimes snake blood can
be dangerous. Never again!
Read agein and write true or false or NM for Not Mentioned.
1.In Teipen, they only sell snake blood in Sneke Alley.
2.The merchant cut the snake and then tied a rope around its head.
3.The blood smelt like metal.
4.The writer had some more snake blood.
5.The writer didn't really like the snake blood.