The Countryman and the Serpent

   A Countryman, as Aesop certifies¹,

  A charitable man, but not so wise,

    One day in winter found,

    Stretched on the snowy ground,

    A chill'd or frozen Snake,

    As torpid² as a stake,

    And, if alive, devoid³ of sense.

  He took him up, and bore him home,

    And, thinking not what recompense

  For such a charity would come,

        Before the fire stretch'd him,

        And back to being fetch'd him.

    The Snake scarce felt the genial⁴ heat

    Before his heart with native malice⁵ beat.

  He raised his head, thrust out his forked tongue,

  Coil'd up, and at his benefactor⁶ sprung.

  "Ungrateful wretch⁷!" said he, "is this the way

      My care and kindness you repay?

  Now you shall die." With that his axe⁸ he takes,

  And with two blows three serpents makes.

  Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;

    And, leaping up with all their might,

    They vainly sought to reunite.

 

    'Tis good and lovely to be kind;

    But charity should not be blind;

    For as to wretchedness ingrate⁹,

    You cannot raise it from its wretched state.

 

1 certifies   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的第三人称单数 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Authority certifies the identity of sites on the internet. 权威负责向Internet网站授予其标识。
• The paper then certifies this algorithm by infrared image processing. 并且文中使用红外图像对这个算法进行了验证。

2 torpid   

adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的

参考例句：

• He just walked and his mind drifted slowly like a torpid stream.他只是埋头走，脑袋里思想都凝滞了，有如一汪流不动的溪水。
• Even when he was awake he was completely torpid.他醒着的时候也完全麻木不动。

3 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

4 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

5 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

6 benefactor   

n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人

参考例句：

• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。
• The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain. 我所做的第一件事, 就是报答我那最初的恩人, 那位好心的老船长。

7 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

8 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

9 ingrate   

n.忘恩负义的人

参考例句：

• It would take an ingrate great courage to work on ways to dispel such measures.一个不知感激为何物的人理直气壮的否定这些措施。
• He's such an ingrate.他是个忘恩负义的人。