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 round his leg.
The king shouted, “Dear man, there is a snake on your leg!”
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?”
The farmer said, “Your Majesty, 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!”
The king sympathized with the farmer and he instructed his prime minister to give the farmer a big sum of money.
A year later, the king met the farmer again. He was well dressed and looked rather plump . 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?”
“Your majesty,” the farmer replied, “my finger was pricked by a thorn on the pumpkin. Now I need a rest to take care of my arm.”
The king was astonished. “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!”
The farmer said, “Your Majesty, you have forgotten what people usually say: that was before, now it is different!”
有一天，国王在国内巡视，看见一个农夫全神贯注地干活。农夫都没注意到自己腿上盘绕着一条蛇。
国王喊道：“小伙子，你腿上有条蛇。”
农夫只是抖抖腿，把蛇抖了下来，继续干活。
国王很惊讶，就问：“小伙子，你难道不知道蛇会伤人吗？你一直埋头干活不理会它，难道农活比性命还重要吗？”
农夫说：“陛下，唯一能让人不安生的不是蛇，是饥饿呀。我要是不努力干活，到开春的时候，我的家人就都得饿死了。”
国王很同情农夫，命令丞相给了农民一大笔钱。
过了一年，国王又碰到了这个农夫。农夫衣着光鲜，看着胖乎乎的。这次他不是在耕地，反而右胳膊上绑着绷带。
国王问他：“小伙子，胳膊怎么了？”
“陛下，”农夫回答，“我的手指被南瓜上的刺扎了一下，我得休息，也好让胳膊恢复。”
国王惊呆了。“穷的时候，你连被蛇咬伤都不怕，坚持埋头干活。现在倒好，南瓜刺扎一下，你就休息养伤了。”
农夫说：“陛下，你没听人常这么说吗？‘此一时，彼一时’喽！”
-coil [kɔɪl] n. 盘绕
-instruct [ɪnˈstrʌkt] v. 命令
-plump [plʌmp] adj. 肥胖的
意大利杰出的人文主义作家薄伽丘曾经说过：“贫穷不会磨灭一个人高贵的品质，反而是富贵叫人丧失了志气。”