A Snake suffered a good deal from being constantly trodden upon by man and beast, owing partly to the length of his body and partly to his being unable to raise himself above the surface of the ground: so he went and complained to Jupiter about the risks to which he was exposed. But Jupiter had little sympathy for him. “I dare say,” said he, “that if you had bitten the first that trod on you, the others would have taken more trouble to look where they put their feet.”
蛇受够了总是被人类和兽类践踏，认为这种命运是因为自己长得太长了，而且他没有办法抬高身体。于是，他找到朱庇特，向他抱怨这种风险。朱庇特却不同情他。“我得说，如果你从一开始就把踩了你的人咬上一口，那以后的人就会仔细研究一下在何处落脚了。”