A Stag, blind of one eye, was grazing close to the sea-shore and kept his sound eye turned towards the land, so as to be able to perceive the approach of the hounds, while the blind eye he turned towards the sea, never suspecting that any danger would threaten him from that quarter. As it fell out, however, some sailors, coasting along the shore, spied him and shot an arrow at him, by which he was mortally wounded. As he lay dying, he said to himself, “Wretch that I am! I bethought me of the dangers of the land, whence none assailed me: but I feared no peril from the sea, yet thence has come my ruin.”
Misfortune often assails us from an unexpected quarter.
有一只雄鹿瞎了一只眼，他在海滩附近吃草，一直用那只好眼对着陆地，以防有猎犬靠近，而瞎了的那只眼则对着大海，他从来都不觉得那个方向会有什么危险。结果，几个水手沿着海滩航行，看到了他，便向他射了一箭，鹿因此而受了致命伤。躺在地上奄奄一息的时候，他自言自语道：“我可真可怜！我总以为陆地上会有危险，结果那里无人攻击我，我从来没有担心过海上会有灾祸，结果我却被杀了。”
训诫：不幸往往来自我们想不到的地方。