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.

　　工人的小兒子被一條毒蛇咬了一口，并且死于蛇傷。悲痛氣憤之余，工人抓起一把斧頭，氣沖沖地跑到蛇洞外，等待機會砍死蛇。不久，蛇從洞里出來了，工人立即一斧頭砍過去，可是只砍斷了它的尾巴尖。隨后，工人還想再如法炮制，便假裝想與蛇和解。可是，蛇卻說：“我永遠也無法成為你的朋友，因為我丟了自己的尾巴，而你卻丟失了兒子。”

　　在造成創(chuàng)傷的雙方心里，永遠無法忘卻傷痛。