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

一个小偷被抓住了，被判处死刑，三天后执行。

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

他想在行刑前与他的母亲话别，得到了允许。

When his mother came to him, he said, "I want to tell you something." He said something but she could not hear.

当他妈妈来到他的面前，他说：“告诉你一件事。”他轻轻说了一遍，但是她听不到；等她走近些，

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.

小偷又轻声说了一遍。母亲将耳朵贴近时，儿子突然咬住母亲的耳朵，差点撕下来，周围的人都惊呆了。

"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."

“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‘别让人看见。’就是因为她我才落个今天这样的下场。”