A young thief and his mother

A young man was caught stealing, and sentenced to death three days later.

He wanted to speak with his mother before the execution1. Of course this was granted.

When his mother came to him, he said, I want to tell you something. He said something but she could not hear. He whispered again, and when she came close to him, she put her ear to his mouth. He nearly bit off her ear. All the bystanders were horrified2.

It is to punish her, he said. When I was young I began stealing little things, and brought them home to mother. Instead of punishing me, she laughed and said, 'It will not be noticed.' It is because of her that I am here today.

一个小偷被逮了个正着，因此被判处死刑，三天后实行。

他想在行刑前与他的妈妈话别，当然这是允许的。

当他母亲来到他的面前，他说：对你说一件事。他轻轻说了一遍，但她听不到；等她走近些，小偷又轻声说了一遍。妈妈将耳朵贴近时，儿子忽然咬住妈妈的耳朵，差点撕下来，周围的人都惊呆了。

这是对她的惩罚，小偷说，我小时候小偷小摸，把偷的东西带回家时，她不但不惩罚我，反而笑着说不要让人看见。就是由于她我才落个今天如此的下场。