最近买了套新书，中英双语版《伊索寓言》。
（长江少年儿童出版社，黄杲炘 译）
这套书一共收集了500多个寓言故事，其语言精炼不花哨，是最简单朴素的，却被评为不朽的经典。而这些寓言也没有被定义成童话，而被划分为哲学范畴。作为优秀的中外少儿读物，它让孩子们从这些小故事中获知某些人间大道理。即使是有相当阅历的成年人，也能从这些故事中加深对事物本质或世态的认识。
今天我们来分享大家最熟悉的《农夫与蛇》的故事。（最后配有语法填空小练习，一定要看到最后哦！）
The Farmer and the Snake
A FARMER found in the winter time a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on him, and taking him up placed him in his bosom. The Snake, on being thawed by the warmth, quickly revived, when, resuming its natural instincts, he bit his benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound. The Farmer said with his last breath, "I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel!"
The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful.
重点回顾
find ... stiff and frozen with cold 发现……冻僵了
此处是 “find + 宾语 + 宾补” 的结构。
stiff (adj.) : not easily bent, folded, moved, changed in shape, etc 不易弯曲、打摺、移动、变形等的; 坚硬的;僵直的
frozen: freeze 的过去分词，也可做形容词用。
frozen with cold 此处是由于寒冷冻僵了，cold 也可替换成某种情绪名词，此时 frozen 意为 “unable to move because of a strong emotion ”。例如 frozen with shock，表惊呆了；frozen with terror，表吓呆了。
have compassion on... 同情，怜悯
compassion (n.): pity for the sufferings of others, making one want to help them 同情; 怜悯
常见的短语搭配还有：
feel/take compassion on...
out of compassion for 出于同情
The Snake, on being thawed by the warmth...
这是一个长难句，首先我们可以来划分一下句子的构成。
黑体加粗下划线部分为句子的主干部分，意为：蛇很快苏醒，咬了他的恩人。加上状语部分，意为：蛇有了他的体温解冻，很快苏醒过来并恢复了本性，咬了恩人一口，使他中了致命的蛇毒。
inflict sth on sb 使……遭受……
原文中 inflict on him a mortal wound 调整了 sth 和 sb 的语序。
mortal (adj.): causing death; fatal 致死的; 致命的
除了原文中的意思，mortal 还有个常用意思“终有一死的，不能永生的”，更常见的是它的反义词 immortal，意为 “不朽的；永世的”。
I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel!
rightly (adv.): for a good reason
The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful.
bind (v.): tie or fasten, eg with rope 捆绑或系紧（如用绳）
bind-bound-bound（原形—过去式—过去分词）
直译为：最大的好处不能束缚不感恩的人。
追求翻译的“信达雅”，可译为：恩情再大，也束缚不住忘恩负义的手脚。
The Man and the Snake
In pity he brought the poor SnakeTo be warmed at his fire. A mistake!For the ungrateful thingWife & children would sting.I’have known some as bad as the Snake.
（百度百科简介）
温故知新
A Farmer walked through his field one cold winter morning. On the ground __1__(lie) a Snake, stiff and __2__(freeze) with cold. The Farmer knew how __3__ (dead) the Snake could be, and __4__ he picked it up and put it in his bosom __5__(warm) it back to life.
The Snake soon revived, and when it had enough __6__(strong), bit the man who had been so kind to it. __7__ bite was fatal and the Farmer felt that he must die. As he drew his last breath, he said to those __8__ (stand) around: Learn from my fate not to take pity __9__ a scoundrel.
The wicked show no __10__ (thank).