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." 一条蛇因为人类和其他野兽的践踏常常生活在水深火热之中，部分原因是他的身体过长，另一部分原因是他无法离开地面。于是，他便跑去向朱庇特抱怨自己所暴露出的危险。可是，朱庇特却不怎么同情他。朱庇特说：“如果你咬了第一个践踏你的人，其他人就不敢再冒险这样做了。”