One day, a king was travelling in his own land(土地). He saw a farmer who was working so hard that he didn't see a snake on his leg. The king shouted, "Farmer, there is a snake on your leg!" The farmer shook(摇动) the snake off and went on his work. The king was surprised by this and asked, "Don't you know that the snake can hurt you? Is your work more important than your life? " The farmer said, "If I don't work hard, my family will starve to death(饿死) ! That's the only thing that I am afraid of." The king was moved and decided to give the farmer a lot of money.
A year later, the king met the farmer again. The farmer was well dressed and looked a little fat. The king saw that he had a bandage(绷带) on his right hand. The king asked his," what happened to your hand?" The farmer replied, "my finger was pricked(刺伤) by thorns(刺) on a pumpkin. Now I need to take care of my hand." The king was surprised. "When you were poor, you weren't afraid of a snakebite. But now you say that you need to rest after being pricked by thorns!" The farmer said, Maybe you've never heard the saying: "That was then, this is now!"
