The Hunter and the Snake

Obverse

the mirror field of the disc bears a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, over it along the rim there is the semicircular inscription "РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ" (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed on both sides by doubled rhombuses, below under the coat of arms there are indications of the precious metal and its fineness on the left and the fine metal content and the mint trade mark on the right, at the bottom in the centre, in three lines, there is an inscription "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA), the denomination of the coin "3 РУБЛЯ" (3 RUBLES), and the year of issue "2019 г." (2019).

Reverse

the mirror field of the disc features a relief image of a hunter with a snake on his shoulder and a cat sitting on a birch, the name of the tale ‘ОХОТНИК И ЗМЕЯ’ (‘THE HUNTER AND THE SNAKE’) in an ancient script style on the birch bark – at the bottom, and the inscription ‘ЛЕГЕНДЫ И СКАЗКИ НАРОДОВ РОССИИ’ (LEGENDS AND FOLKTALES OF RUSSIA) – on the left.

Authors

The artists: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), S.V. Sutyagin (reverse).
The sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), A.N. Bessonov (reverse).
Mint: Saint Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
The edge: 300 corrugations.

Discover more

The Udmurt tale ‘The Hunter and the Snake’ tells about the interactions between a man and animals that he meets in his everyday life. According to an Udmurt legend, cats were not always domesticated. A long time ago, they lived in forests. However, one day, an incident occurred with a hunter, after which cats began to live in people's homes.

Once, on a late autumn day, when the hunter returned home from the forest he noticed a snake in a spring with its tail frozen in the water. The hunter pitied it, took his axe, and broke the ice, freeing the snake. After that, the snake asked the hunter to put it under his shirt to warm. After warming up, the snake wound itself around the hunter and decided to bite him saying that it always paid with evil for good. The hunter argued with the snake and suggested that they should ask the first person they meet what should good be repaid with: good or evil. They went and met domesticated animals: a cow and a horse. They both confirmed that the hunter was right and that they repaid with good for all the good deeds that people did for them. The snake did not like the answers, and they went into the forest to ask a wild animal. They saw a cat sitting on a birch. The snake was the first to ask the wild animal its question: ‘The man saved me from death and I want to kill him! Be our judge...’ However, the cat pretended that it did not hear the snake. Then the hunter and the snake came closer, and the snake repeated its question. The cat then suddenly jumped and killed the snake with its claws. The man was so glad that he decided to repay the cat with good and invited it to live with him in his house, promising to feed it with meat and milk and to provide a place near the warm stove. Humans and cats have been living together in peace ever since.