The Sagacious Snake

 It is related that the infirmities of age had taken effect upon a Snake and through loss of strength he was unable to pursue his prey¹, and was bewildered in his proceedings² how to obtain food. Life was impossible without food, and to hunt for it, had, through his weakness, become impracticable. Accordingly he thus reflected:

 

"Alas³! for the strength of my youth; and now to expect its return and to hope for the recurrence⁴ of my animal vigour⁵ is a thing of the same complexion⁶ as to light a fire from water." He felt that what was passed could not be recalled, and he therefore busied himself with taking thought for the future, and said: "In lieu of the strength of youth I have a little experience which I have acquired, and a trifle of prudence⁷. I must now base my proceedings on abstaining⁸ from injuring others and must begin to consider how I may obtain, for the remainder of my life, what may be the means of support."

 

He then went to the brink⁹ of a spring of water in which there were a number of frogs who had a potent¹⁰ King and one who was obeyed and renowned¹¹. The Snake cast himself down there in the dust of the road, like to a sufferer on whom calamity¹² has fallen. A Frog speedily made up to him, and asked him: "I see thou art very sorrowful. What is the cause of it?" The Snake replied: "Who deserves more to grieve than I, whose maintenance was from hunting frogs? Today an event has occurred which has rendered the pursuit of them unlawful to me, and if I seriously designed to seize one, I could not." The Frog went away and told the King, who was amazed at this strange circumstance, and coming to the Snake, asked him: "What is the cause of this accident that has befallen thee and what act has brought down this upon thee?"

 

The Snake replied: "O King, greed plunged¹³ me into calamity, and this befell as follows: One day I attempted to seize a Frog, which fled from me and took refuge in the house of a holy man. My appetite led me to follow him into the house, which happened to be dark. The son of the holy man lay there asleep, and his great toe coming against me I fancied it was the Frog. From the ardour of my greediness I closed my teeth upon it, and the child died on the spot. The holy man discovered the fact, and from regret for his son, attacked me, and I, turning toward the open country, fled with speed, and the recluse¹⁴ pursued me and cursed me, and said: 'I desire of my Creator that He will make thee base and powerless, and cause thee to be the vehicle of the Frog-king. And, verily, thou shalt not have power to eat Frogs, save what their King shall bestow¹⁵ on thee as alms.' And now, of necessity, I have come hither that the King may ride upon me, and I have acquiesced¹⁶ in the will of God."

 

The matter pleased the King of the Frogs, and he thought that it would redound¹⁷ to his advantage; and he at once seated himself upon the Snake, and indulged in vainglorious¹⁸ airs in consequence.

 

Some time passed in this way. At last the Snake said: "May the life of the King be prolonged! I cannot do without food and sustenance¹⁹, that I may support life thereon and fulfil this service." The King said: "The case is as thou sayest; I cannot do without my steed, and my steed cannot have strength without food." He then fixed²⁰ two Frogs as his daily allowance, that he might use as his regular supply for breakfast and dinner. The Snake maintained himself on that allowance; and inasmuch as the attention he paid to the Frog-king involved a benefit to himself he did not find fault with it.

 

And this story is adduced to make it apparent that courtesy and humility²¹ are readier means to uproot²² an enemy than war and contest.

 

1 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

2 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

3 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

4 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

5 vigour   

（=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力

参考例句：

• She is full of vigour and enthusiasm.她有热情，有朝气。
• At 40,he was in his prime and full of vigour.他40岁时正年富力强。

6 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

7 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

8 abstaining   

戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Abstaining from killing, from taking what is not given, & from illicIt'sex. 诸比丘！远离杀生，远离不与取，于爱欲远离邪行。
• Abstaining from arguments was also linked to an unusual daily cortisol pattern. 压抑争吵也造成每日异常的皮质醇波动。

9 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

10 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

11 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

12 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

13 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

14 recluse   

n.隐居者

参考例句：

• The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
• His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。

15 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

16 acquiesced   

v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Senior government figures must have acquiesced in the cover-up. 政府高级官员必然已经默许掩盖真相。
• After a lot of persuasion,he finally acquiesced. 经过多次劝说，他最终默许了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 redound   

v.有助于；提；报应

参考例句：

• Her efforts will redound to the general good.他的努力将使他受益匪浅。
• This will redound to his credit.这将提高他的名气。

18 vainglorious   

adj.自负的；夸大的

参考例句：

• She is a vainglorious woman.她是个爱虚荣的女性。
• Let us not become vainglorious,provoking one another,envying one another.不要贪图虚荣，彼此惹气，互相嫉妒。

19 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

22 uproot   

v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开

参考例句：

• The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土，移居澳大利亚。
• The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。