THE FLEA AND THE MAN

A Flea bit a Man, and bit him again, and again, till he could stand it no longer, but made a thorough search for it, and at last succeeded in catching it. Holding it between his finger and thumb, he said—or rather shouted, so angry was he—“Who are you, pray, you wretched little creature, that you make so free with my person?” The Flea, terrified, whimpered in a weak little voice: “Oh, sir! pray let me go; don't kill me! I am such a little thing that I can't do you much harm.” But the Man laughed and said: “I am going to kill you now, at once: whatever is bad has got to be destroyed, no matter how slight the harm it does.”

Do not waste your pity on a scamp.

跳蚤和人

有一只跳蚤叮了人一口，然后又叮了一口，后来一次接着一次地叮，人最后无法忍受了，于是便全身检查，最终抓到了跳蚤。他将跳蚤捏在拇指和食指间，说——确切地说应该是喊，因为他实在很愤怒：“你到底是谁啊，你这个卑鄙的小东西，就这么在我身上为所欲为？”跳蚤害怕了，啜泣着，用微弱的声音说：“噢，先生啊，求求你放了我吧，千万不要杀我！我就是这么个小东西而已，根本不会给你造成什么伤害。”但是人笑着说：“我就是要立刻杀了你：恶有恶报，不管他造成的是多么小的伤害。”

训诫：不要虚掷同情在坏蛋身上。