The Thief and His Mother

（单词翻译:单击）

    A schoolboy stole a book from one of his school-fellows，and brought it home to his mother．Instead of chastising¹ him，she rather encouraged him in the deed．As time went by the boy，now grown up into a man，began to steal things of greater value，till at length being caught in the very act，he was bound and led to execution．Perceiving his mother following among the crowd on the way，wailing and beating her breast，he begged the executioners to be al-lowed to have a word with her in private．When she quickly drew near and applied² her ear to her son's mouth，he seized the lobe³ of it tightly between his teeth and bit it off．Upon this she cried out lustily，and the crowd joined her in upbraiding⁴ the unnatural⁵ son，as if his former evil ways had not been enough，that his last act must be a deed of impiety⁶ against his mother．But he replied，“It is she who is the cause of my ruin，for if when I stole my school fellow's book and brought it to her，she had given me a sound flogging，I should never have so grown in wickedness as to come to this untimely end．”
    Exercises：
    判断对（T）、错（F）：
    ① When the mother got to know that her son stole a book from his classmate，she scolded him bitterly．②The son was caught because of stealing．③ The son bit his mother's lobe off because he hated his mother．④ If the mother had given him a sound flogging at his first steal-ing，the son should never have so grown in wickedness．