"Egyptians regard the snake as too lucky a visitant to a house to kill and so tempt ill-luck, and Leila's long self-communing in the little summer-house would not have been complete without this indolent cobra which had learned to drink milk from a saucer like a cat."
In Egypt, cobras are sacred and were used as a symbol by the Pharaohs of their power over life and death. The cobra belongs to the species N. haje and is a five to eight foot long snake with a large head and a wide snout. Its eyes are big and its body is usually a brownish color which varies in shade and it often has a "tear drop" impression below the eye. Even though this is a venomous and therefore dangerous snake, some people keep them as pets, like Leila in the quote. Perhaps she fancies herself as a mythological Egyptian goddess, like Meretseger, who was believed to be a healer and protector of royal tombs and was thought to be dangerous, like a cobra, yet merciful. Leila was a kind of goddess to her family, for she wielded much power over her rivalrous sons. And, she seems to have cast a spell over the seemingly docile cobra who was her companion at her retreat.
The image is a photograph of an Egyptian style cobra frieze on display at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Lawrence Durrell; Balthazar; E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., New York, 1958; Page 75.
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