古代寓言原是民间口头创作，文学体裁的一种。含有讽喻或明显教训意义的故事。它的结构简短。主人公可以是人，可以是动物，也可以是无生物。多借用比喻手法，使富有教训意义的主题或深刻的道理在简单的故事中体现，而还需要自己去理解，思考，这就是和西方寓言的不同之处。

《古代寓言·神像和好人》

乡村路口，有一神庙，乃是木雕之像。一人行路，因遇水沟，就将此神放倒，踏着过水。后有一人看见，心内不忍，将神扶在座上。

此神说他不供香火，登时就降他头痛之灾。

判官小鬼都禀道：“踏着大王过水的倒没事，扶起来的倒降灾，何也？”

这神说：“你不知道，只是善人好欺负。”

——《笑赞》

A Good Man Is Easy to Bully

In the temple by the roadside of a village there was a wooden image of a deity. A man passing by found a ditch across his path, so he pulled down the image and placed it over the ditch as a bridge. Another passer-by saw the figure on the ground and, feeling sorry for it, restored it to its place. But the image took umbrage because he had offered no sacrifice to it, and placed a curse on him, causing him to suffer a bad headache.

The spirits of the kingdom of the underworld were non-plussed. "You let the one who trod on you go free, but punished the one who helped you up. Why?"

"You don't understand," said the deity. "It is so easy to bully a good man."

Xiao Zan (In Praise of Laughter)

（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）

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