41. KILLING A SNAKE

　　A farmer who lived south of Jiangshan, Zhejiang thought it was fun to kill things. He was married, but even though he was already over forty years old, he had only one child, a little boy, nine years old when our story takes place.
　
　　One day in May, 1868, this mean farmer took his hoe out to his field as usual, but on the way, he spotted a huge snake. When the snake saw the farmer, it looked at him with a pleading expression and stuck out its tongue. It seemed to be afraid, and begging for mercy.

　　"I'm going to kill you, no doubt about it," the farmer said. The snake started to escape, but as quick as a wink, the farmer chopped it in two with his hoe.　

　　When the snake stopped moving, the farmer put his hoe on his shoulder and went his way with a cheerful song.

　　That evening, his son dreamed that a huge snake bit him. He was so frightened that he woke up. He had a fever and chills. He kept muttering, "It hurts! It hurts so much!"　

　　His father didn't know what to do when he saw that. He was just about to go run for a doctor when his son stuck out his tongue -- but it was so long! It didn't look like a little boy's tongue at all. It looked just like a snake's tongue!
　
　　"My son! My son!" his father called, but it was too late. In a few moments,his son was dead.

41. 杀蛇

　　浙江省江山有一个农夫，他很喜欢杀生。他已经结婚了，虽然在这个故事发生的时候，他虽然已经四十岁了，才只有一个九岁的儿子。

　　1868年5月的一天，这个吝啬的农夫像往常一样拿着锄头到地里去了。在路上，他看见了一条蛇。他看见了一条大蛇。蛇看到农夫的时候，用一种恳求的神情看着他，还伸出了舌头。它看起来很害怕的样子，好像在求饶。

　　“我会杀了你，毫无疑问。”农夫说。蛇于是开始逃窜。一眨眼，农夫就用锄头把蛇剁成两截。

　　当蛇再也不动了以后，农夫把锄头扛在肩上，哼着轻快的歌儿走了。

　　那天晚上，他的儿子梦到有一条大蛇咬他。他吓醒了，发起了高烧，还不停颤抖。他一直喃喃地说：“疼！好疼啊！”

　　他的爸爸不知道如何是好。他正要去请医生时，他的儿子伸出了舌头——那么长的舌头！看起来一点也不像是一个小男孩的舌头，而是像那条蛇的！

　　“孩子！孩子!”他的父亲叫唤起来，但是太晚了，不久他的儿子就死了。