伊索寓言：燕子與蟒蛇

The Swallow， the Serpent， and the Court of Justice

燕子與蟒蛇

A SWALLOW， returning from abroad and especially fond of dwelling with men， built herself a nest in the wall of a Court of Justice and there hatched seven young birds. A Serpent gliding past the nest from its hole in the wall ate up the young unfledged nestlings. The Swallow， finding her nest empty， lamented greatly and exclaimed： “Woe to me a stranger！ that in this place where all others' rights are protected， I alone should suffer wrong.”

有只在法院里做窩的燕子飛出去了。蟒蛇趁機(jī)爬進(jìn)燕子窩里，把小燕子都吞吃了。燕子回來發(fā)現(xiàn)窩空了，極其悲痛。另一只燕子飛來勸慰她，并說她不是唯一丟失孩子的媽媽。她回答說：「我這樣悲痛，并不僅僅是為了丟失孩子，而是因在這受害的地方本是所有受害者都能求得幫助的地方。」

這個故事帶出的啟示就是：災(zāi)難來自最意想不到的地方時，最使人悲傷。