THE BASILISK

A Basilisk comes to Glen Hartwell and starts destroying crops and slaughtering people

Phil Roberts About 6,800 words
22 Stafford Street, First Publishing Rights
Footscray (V) 3011 © Copyright 2025
AUSTRALIA. Phil Roberts



THE BASILISK
by
PHIL ROBERTS



Glenda Farther, and Dionyis 'Dion' Galani were walking arm in arm along the banks of the Yannan River, a few kilometres outside Glen Hartwell in the Victorian countryside. It was April Fool's Day, and was a little cold, which gave them an excuse to cuddle up. Usually April was the Goldilocks month in Victoria; not too hot and not too cold, just right. However, Victoria would haave a disappointingly cold and rainy April in 2025, before it warmed up again in May.
"Phew, what is that smell?" asked Dion, a tall strongly build Hellenic man, new to Australia.
"The river," explained Glenda, a tall, chubbyish brunette with long, wavy brown hair. "I'm afraid the Yannan vies will the Nile as the most polluted river in the world."
"Then, let's get deeper into the forest, away from the smell, my love," said Dion.
Glenda blushed, not used to compliments, having always been the shy, ugly duckling of the four girls in her family. Until Dion had asked her out a few months ago. They had been going out regularly ever since.
"Do you really love me?" asked, pleaded Glenda.
"Of course, my love," insisted Dion, "a Greek man does not tell a beautiful lady that he loves her, unless he really does."
"My sisters claim you are just pretending you love me, for some reason."\
"Your sisters are obviously jealouis of your great beauty."
"I'm no beauty," insisted Glenda. Partly because it was true, partly because she loved to hear Dion say that she was beautiful.





In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk is a reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is so venomous, it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal. Stones break at its touch, whole fields can wither and die just because the basilisk walks through them.

Basilisks are said to be able to eat their petrified victims, with their strong jaws and a process in their gullet that transforms the stone back into flesh.

Basilisks are omnivores. Their diet includes fish, shrimp, insects, birds, smaller lizards, and even frogs. They may also eat flowers or fruit.

According to Pliny, the basilisk's weakness is the odour of a weasel. The weasel was thrown into the basilisk's hole, recognizable because some of the surrounding shrubs and grass had been scorched by its presence.
A putto (cherub or cupid) kills a basilisk
According to some legends, basilisks can be killed by hearing the crow of a rooster or gazing at itself in a mirror.

Alexander Neckam (died 1217) was the first to say that not the glare but the "air corruption" was the killing tool of the basilisk

Professor Adam Ignacy Naramowski describes how boughs of rue, a plant believed to have the power to repel basilisks, were lowered into the creature's lair.

THE END
© Copyright 2025 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia