An Ill-Natured Neighbor

An ill-natured, jealous peasant saw his neighbor's getting a very good harvest. As he was unable to be glad of his neighbor's blessing¹ from God, he devised the way how to destroy his neighbor's happiness. To attain² his purpose he caught a fox, tied a lighted torch to its tail and drove it in the direction of his neighbor's fields. Seeing the fox reached the field, it changed its direction, and began, to his amazement³, plunging⁴ into his own fields where the grains had almost been ripe.

 

A few minutes had passed before all his fields were enveloped⁵ in volumes of flames. He sorrowed, lamented⁶, rushing about in his neighborhood, and devised to lay the blame at his neighbor's door. But as his neighbor had been believed to be very honest since ages ago, and, on the contrary, he had been reputed as an ill-natured man, none could place any confidence in his words.

 

A misdeed only leads one to a snare⁷（陷阱，圈套） set for others.

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