The labourer and the snake 工人和蛇

A labourer's little son was bitten by a snake and died of the wound. The father was beside himself with grief, and in his anger against the snake the caught up an axe¹ and went and stood close to the snake's hole, and watched for a chance of killing² it. Presently the snake come out, and the man aimed a blow at it, but only succeeded in cutting of the tip of its tail before it wriggled³ in again. He then tried to get it to come out a second time, pretending that he wished to make up the quarrel. But the snake said, "I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because of your lost child."

 

Injuries are never forgotten in the presence of those who caused them.

 

工人的小儿子被一条毒蛇咬了一口，并且死于蛇伤。悲痛气愤之余，工人抓起一把斧头，气冲冲地跑到蛇洞外，等待机会砍死蛇。不久，蛇从洞里出来了，工人立即一斧头砍过去，可是只砍断了它的尾巴尖。随后，工人还想再如法炮制，便假装想与蛇和解。可是，蛇却说：“我永远也无法成为你的朋友，因为我丢了自己的尾巴，而你却丢失了儿子。”

 

在造成创伤的双方心里，永远无法忘却伤痛。

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