西方经典哲理故事
This story is called "The Farmer and the Snake." Every day, a farmer went to the city to sell his flowers and farm produce and then went home after selling all his things. One day, he left home very early, so early that when he arrived at the city, the gate was still closed. So he lay down to take a nap, when he awoke he found that the storage bin containing his farm produce had become empty except that there was a gold coin inside. Although all the things in the bin had vanished, the gold was much more valuable so he was still very happy. He thought most probably someone had taken his things and left the payment there, and went home happily with the money.
这个故事叫做农夫和蛇。有一个农夫，每天到城里去卖他自己种的花和农产品，卖完以后就回家。有一天，他很早出门，来到城门时，因为还太早，城门还没开，所以他就先躺在那边睡觉。当他醒过来时，看到他装农产品的瓶子都空空了，里面多了一块黄金的钱。虽然瓶子里的东西不见了，不过那块黄金的钱已经很多了，所以他还是非常高兴。他想大概有人拿走他的东西，然后放钱在那边，于是就快乐地带着钱回家了。
The next day, the farmer again went out to sell his things but again arrived too early so he slept outside the city gate just like he had done the day before. And the incident repeated itself. All the produce that the farmer had brought disappeared, and there was a gold coin in the bin! At that time, gold was very valuable. One gold coin had a value many times higher than the farmer's produce.
隔天，农夫又出门去做买卖，同样也是来得太早，所以他又在城门那边睡觉。结果又发生一样的事情，农夫带来的东西都不见了，瓶子里面又多了一块黄金的钱！那时候黄金是很有价值，所以一块黄金的钱比农夫的农产品还高出好几倍的价值。
Then one day some time later, the farmer's father asked him, "Where have you gotten so many gold coins lately? Where did the money come from?" So the farmer revealed to his father what had happened. After listening to his story, the father thought, "One day I'll follow my son as he goes out, and see who's been consuming his things and leaving the money in the bin."
