There was a type of poisonous snake in Yongzhou. Anyone who touched it or was bitten by it would die for sure. But if it was caught and made into medicine, the medicine could be used to cure many ailments and illnesses. Therefore, the imperial physician asked the emperor to issue a decree to order people to catch the snakes. They could use the snakes that they caught to offset their taxes. Hearing this, many people competed to catch the snake. 

There was a man called Mr. Jiang who caught snakes for many years. When I asked him about his work, he told me sadly, “This snake killed my grandfather and father, and almost killed me once. ” 

I felt sorry for him and said, “If you hate catching snakes, why don’t you do something else for a living? ” 

Mr. Jiang replied, “No way! My neighbor never catches snakes, and so, his family has to worry about paying heavy taxes all year round. I only need to risk my life twice a year to catch snakes and hand them over to the authorities. Then, I don’t have to worry about paying my taxes at all. If you were me, would you hate catching snakes? ”

永州有一種毒蛇，被牠碰到或咬到，都必死無疑；但是如果把牠捉來做藥，能治好許多疑難雜症。於是太醫就請皇帝下令要大家捉蛇，捉到的蛇可以當作賦稅，當時就有很多人都爭著去捉蛇。

有位蔣先生，已經捉蛇很多年了。我問他工作的情形，他難過地回答：「蛇咬死了我的祖父、父親，我也有好幾次差點兒被蛇咬死。」

我覺得他很可憐，就說：「你討厭捉蛇嗎？換個工作怎麼樣？」

蔣先生說：「你是要害我吧！我的鄰居不捉蛇，全家都因為沉重的賦稅，每天生活在痛苦之中；而我，每年只要兩次不顧危險捉蛇，把蛇交出去，就可以安心地吃飯睡覺。如果你是我，你會討厭捉蛇嗎？」