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一个罗马皇帝失明了，非常不幸。他希望人们不要因为他失明了，情况就越来越不好。 于是，他就在宫殿里挂了一口钟，并且颁布了一条法律:任何人要申冤都要亲自拉响钟。钟一响，法官就会听你的委屈，为你申冤。 一条大蛇恰巧把家安在挂着钟的绳子的末端那里,还在这里生了小蛇。一天，小蛇能外出的时候，大蛇就带它们出去呼吸新鲜空气。就在它们走了后，一只蛤蟆过来了，喜欢上了它们的家，一直到大蛇回来，它也不愿离开。 大蛇不能把它赶出去，就用尾巴绕住钟的绳子，拉响了正义之钟。法官过来看了看，没有看到人，就回去了。大蛇又用同样的方法拉响了钟。 这一次，法官朝四周仔细看了看，看到了大蛇和蛤蟆，就回去把他所见到的事告诉了皇帝。 皇帝说：“很明显是蛤蟆做错了。回去吧，把蛤蟆赶出去，杀掉它，让大蛇回去住在原来的地方。” 一切都处理好了。过了没几天，皇帝躺在床上，大蛇钻进了房间，朝皇帝的床爬去。侍卫们正要赶走它，皇帝阻止了。 "它不会伤害我的，”皇帝说，“我对它来说是公正的。看看它要做什么。” 听到这些，大蛇爬到床上，把它带着的一枚宝石吐在了皇帝的眼睛上，然后就离开了房间，再也没有人看到它。那颗宝石一放到皇帝的眼睛上，他就复明了，和其他人看得一样清楚。 The Bell of Justice A Roman emperor had the ill fortune to lose his sight. He wished that his people might not be the worse for this loss； so he hung a bell in his palace, and a law was made that any one who had a wrong to be righted must pull the rope with his own hands and thus ring the bell. When the bell rang, a judge went down to hear the complaint and right the wrong. It chanced that a serpent had its home under the end of the bell-rope. Here it brought forth its young, and one day, when the little serpents could leave the place, it led them out for fresh air. While they were gone, a toad came and took a fancy to the place. Nor would he go away when the serpent came back. The serpent could not drive the toad out, so it coiled its tail about the bell-rope, and rang the bell of justice. Down came the judge, but saw nobody, and went back. Again the serpent rang the bell in the same way. This time the judge looked about with care and espied the serpent and the toad. He went back to the emperor and told him what he had seen. “It is very dear,” said the emperor, “that the toad is in the wrong. Go down, drive out the toad, kill it, and let the serpent have its place again." All this was done. Now, not many days after, as the emperor lay in his bed, the serpent came into the room, and toward the emperor，s bed. The servants were about to drive the serpent away, but the emperor forbade them. “It will do me no harm，’’ said he, “I have been just to it. Let us see what it will do." At that the serpent glided up the bed and laid a precious stone, which it carried in its mouth, upon the emperor's eyes. Then it slipped out of the room and no one saw it again. But no sooner had the stone lain on the eyes of the emperor than his sight was restored and he could see as well as other men. |
