生詞

One day, a king was travelling in his own land. He saw a farmer so absorbed in his work that he did not even notice a snake coiling（卷繞） round his leg. The king shouted, “Dear man, there is a snake on your leg!”

有一天，國(guó)王在國(guó)內(nèi)巡視，看見(jiàn)一個(gè)農(nóng)夫全神貫注地干活。農(nóng)夫都沒(méi)注意到自己腿上盤繞著一條蛇。國(guó)王喊道：“小伙子，你腿上有條蛇?！?/p>

The farmer just shook the snake off and continued his work. The king was very curious and asked, “Dear man, don't you know that the snake can harm you? You ignored it and kept working. Is the work more important than your life?”

農(nóng)夫只是抖抖腿，把蛇抖了下來(lái)，繼續(xù)干活。 國(guó)王很驚訝，就問(wèn)：“小伙子，你難道不知道蛇會(huì)傷人嗎？你一直埋頭干活不理會(huì)它，難道農(nóng)活比性命還重要嗎？”

The farmer said, “Your Majesty（陛下）, the only thing that is threatening me is not the snake but the food. If I don't work hard, when the next spring comes, my family members will starve to death!”

農(nóng)夫說(shuō)：“陛下，唯一能讓人不安生的不是蛇，是饑餓呀。我要是不努力干活，到開(kāi)春的時(shí)候，我的家人就都得餓死了?！?/p>

The king sympathized with the farmer and he instructed（指示） his prime minister to give the farmer a big sum of money. A year later, the king met the farmer again.

國(guó)王很同情農(nóng)夫，命令丞相給了農(nóng)民一大筆錢。 過(guò)了一年，國(guó)王又碰到了這個(gè)農(nóng)夫。

He was well dressed and looked rather plump（胖乎乎的）. He was not farming now but there was a bandage on his right arm. The king asked him, “Dear man, what happened to your arm?”

農(nóng)夫衣著光鮮，看著胖乎乎的。這次他不是在耕地，反而右胳膊上綁著繃帶。 國(guó)王問(wèn)他：“小伙子，胳膊怎么了？”

“Your majesty,” the farmer replied, “my finger was pricked（扎） by a thorn on the pumpkin. Now I need a rest to take care of my arm.” The king was astonished.

“陛下，”農(nóng)夫回答，“我的手指被南瓜上的刺扎了一下，我得休息，也好讓胳膊恢復(fù)。” 國(guó)王驚呆了。

“When you were such a poor man, you were not afraid of a snake bite. You only kept working hard. But now you need a rest after being pricked by a little thorn on the pumpkin!”

“窮的時(shí)候，你連被蛇咬傷都不怕，堅(jiān)持埋頭干活。現(xiàn)在倒好，南瓜刺扎一下，你就休息養(yǎng)傷了?！?/p>

The farmer said, “Your Majesty, you have forgotten what people usually say: that was before, now it is different!”

農(nóng)夫說(shuō)：“陛下，你沒(méi)聽(tīng)人常這么說(shuō)嗎？‘此一時(shí)，彼一時(shí)’嘍！”

生詞

coil [k??l] n.盤繞

instruct [?n?str?kt] v.命令

plump [pl?mp] adj.肥胖的