"The Farmer and the Snake" comes from Aesop's Fables, which tells the story of a farmer who saved a snake but was bitten by it.
In a cold winter, a farmer was walking on the street and saw a nearly frozen snake lying on the roadside. The farmer was very sad and merciful. He couldn't bear the snake to freeze to death. He picked up the snake and put it in his arms to warm it up as soon as possible. But when the snake woke up, it bit the farmer severely. The farmer was poisoned by snake venom and was dying. Before he died, he regretted: "I pitied the villain and did not distinguish between good and bad. As a result, I hurt myself and deserved such retribution!"
The story of "the Farmer and the Snake" tells us that we must distinguish between good and evil in life, and we can only extend the hand of assistance to good people. The nature of those evil people will not be changed even if you are kind and righteous to them.
The farmer was so kind to the snake that he didn't defend himself against it at all. He spilt his guts, but the snake bit the hand that feeds it. Of course, we should not take drastic measures to lift a stone and smash the snake to death. This is bad for snakes. The best way for the farmer is to continue to walk his own way, looking at the frozen snake at most, and let it run its course. Neither pity nor evil intention is allowed. The life and death of the snake depends on heaven.
The good and evil of animals can be roughly distinguished. For example, snakes, wolves are different from cattle and sheep, and humans can treat them differently. But for people, it is difficult to distinguish. It is often said that it is difficult for us to understand a person without long-term contact. In this case, what should we do? Are you passionate about people, or are you as cold as ice, refusing people thousands of miles away?
Before he made a success, Han Xin had nothing to do at home. Three meals a day were all borne by his brother and sister-in-law. Later, his sister-in-law drove him out of the house. Han Xin was fishing by the river and fainted from hunger. An old woman who was washing clothes by the river gave him a bowl of porridge to eat. After Han Xin became a general, he gave the old woman 1000 taels of gold, but he was not so grateful to his brother and sister-in-law.
This is the general idea of the saying “Give him a bowl of rice, and he will be grateful; give him a bucket of rice, and he won't be grateful. ". When a person is hungry and cold, if you give him a bowl of rice, it will solve his big problem and he will be grateful. However, if you continue to give him rice, he will take it for granted and will not be grateful in the end. You have always been good to others, and others may not remember, but they will take it for granted after a long time. We will also find a phenomenon that a person is actually unwilling to face the person who has helped him, because his most depressed, embarrassed and humiliating side was seen by the benefactor, and he was cautious in front of the benefactor, felling trapped, and could not be freer. Some people also say that you should never lend money to a man who is down and out, because a man's dignity will be lost when he borrows money from others, and it is the person who lends the money that causes all this, and this man will have a grudge in the future.
The story of "the Farmer and the Snake" gives us some inspiration, that is, "Don't be too nice to people, and don't be too bad to people". That is to say, we should keep a certain distance from people, which is worth learning for us all.
“农夫与蛇”的故事来源于《伊索寓言》，讲的是一个农夫救了一条蛇却被蛇咬的故事。
在一个严寒的冬天里，一个农夫走在大街上，看到路边有一条几近冻僵的蛇，趴在那里一动不动。农夫很是难过，大发慈悲之心，不忍蛇被冻死。他把蛇捡起来，然后放进自己的怀里，为的是给蛇取暖，让它尽快暖和过来。可待那蛇苏醒过来以后，反而狠狠地咬了农夫一口。农夫中了蛇毒，奄奄一息，临死之前悔恨不已：“我可怜恶人，不辨好坏，结果害了自己，活该遭受这样的报应！”
“农夫与蛇”的故事告诉我们，做人一定要分清善恶，只能把援助之手伸向善良的人。对那些恶人即使仁至义尽，他们的本性也是不会改变的。
农夫因为对蛇太好，对蛇这种害人的东西丝毫不加设防，掏心掏肺，最终落了个恩将仇报，还搭上了自己的性命。当然，也不能采取过激的做法，搬起一块石头狠狠地把蛇砸死，这就是对蛇不好。农夫最好的做法就是，继续走自己的路，最多多看几眼那条冻僵的蛇，任其自然发展，既不要心生怜悯，也不要心生歹意，蛇的生死由天来定。
动物的善恶大致可以分辨的，比如蛇、狼与牛、羊就有着不同，人类可以区别对待它们。可对于人，就难以分辨了。人们常说，知人知面不知心，没有长时间的接触，我们也很难了解一个人。在这种情况下，该如何做呢？是对人掏心掏肺，热情有加，还是冷若冰霜，拒人于千里之外？
韩信成名之前在家里无所事事，一日三餐，全由哥哥嫂嫂承担，后被嫂子赶出了家门。韩信在江边钓鱼，饿得昏了过去，在江边洗衣的一老妇送给了他一碗粥吃。韩信当了大将军以后，赏了老妇人黄金1000两，可对养他的哥哥嫂嫂一家并没有如此感恩。
俗语“升米恩，斗米仇”，大意就是这个意思。你对别人一直好，别人未必会记得，时间长了反而会觉得理所当然。我们还会发现一个现象，一个人心里其实是不愿面对曾经帮助过自己的人，因为自己最落魄最狼狈最丢人的一面被恩人看到了，自己在恩人面前小心翼翼，畏手畏脚，一点也放不开。也有人说，千万不要借钱给一个落魄的男人，因为一个男人的尊严在向人借钱时会丧失殆尽，而造成这一切的就是借钱给他的那个人，这个男人日后会心存芥蒂。
“农夫与蛇”的故事给我们一点启示，那就是“不要对人特好，也不要对人不好”，也就是说对人要保持一定的距离，这条条处事原则倒是值得我们学习的。
Thanks for your support.