The 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 execution. 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 horrified.

"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."

小偷和他的母親

●一個小偷被抓住了，被判處死刑，三天后執行。

●他想在行刑前與他的母親話別，得到了允許。

●當他媽媽來到他的面前，他說：“告訴你一件事。”他輕輕說了一遍，但是她聽不到;等她走近些，小偷又輕聲說了一遍。母親將耳朵貼近時，兒子突然咬住母親的耳朵，差點撕下來，周圍的人都驚呆了。

●“這是對她的懲罰，”小偷說，“我小時候小偷小摸，把偷的東西帶回家時，她不但不懲罰我，反而笑著說‘別讓人看見。’就是因為她我才落個今天這樣的下場。”

寓意: 小錯起初不懲治，必將釀成大錯。