【女人和農夫的寓言故事】

　　有一個女人剛剛失去了丈夫，她每天都要到丈夫的墳上痛哭一場。有一個農夫在不遠處耕地，一直觀察著這個女人，想娶她為妻。于是，農夫放下自己的犁，來到她身邊坐下，也痛哭起來。女人問他為什么哭，農夫回答說：“我的妻子最近也死了，她和我非常恩愛，也許眼淚能夠減輕我的悲傷。”女人說：“我丈夫也是剛剛去世。”兩人就這樣默然哀傷了一陣子。接著，農夫說：“既然你我遭遇相同，我們為何不結為夫妻，在一起生活呢？我替代你死去的丈夫，而你則替代我死去的妻子。”這個想法聽起來的確很有道理，那女人高興地同意了。這時候，有一個賊偷走了農夫丟下的公牛。看到自己的牛被偷了，農夫不禁捶胸頓足地悲嘆自己的損失。此刻，女人聽見了他的哭聲，走過來問道：“為什么，你還在哭嗎？”農夫回答：“是的！這一次是真心的。”

　　【女人和農夫的故事英文版】

　　THE WOMAN AND THE FARMER

　　A Woman，who had lately lost her husband，used to go every day to his grave and lament her loss.A Farmer，who was engaged in ploughing not far from the spot，set eyes upon the Woman and desired to have her for his wife：SO he left his plough and came and sat by her side，and began to shed tears himself.She asked him why he wept；and he replied，“I have lately lost my wife，who was very dear to me，and tears ease my grief.”“And I，”said she，“have lost my husband.”And S0 for a while they mourned in silence.Then he said，“Since you and i are in like case，shall we not do well to marry and live together?I shall take the place of your dead husband，and you，that of my dead wife.”The Woman consented to the plan，which indeed seemed reasonable enough：and they dried their tears.Meanwhile，a thief had come and st01en the oxen which the Farmer had left with his plough.On discovering the theft，he beat his breast and loudly bewailed his loss.When the Woman heard his cries，she came and said，“Why，are you weeping still?”To which he replied，“Yes，and I mean it this time.”