春秋時代，楚國有一個小孩子，名叫孫叔敖，父親在他很小的時候就死了。他和媽媽兩個人住在鄉下，過著貧困的生活。
有一天，孫叔敖牽牛到草地上吃草，沒想到旁邊的草堆裡竟然鑽出來一條蛇，而且那條蛇還有兩個頭！孫叔敖嚇得拿起地上的石頭，用力打死了牠。這時候，孫叔敖才想到，有人說過，只要看見兩頭蛇，馬上就會死掉。他看著兩頭蛇的屍體，考慮了一會兒，又在地上挖了一個洞，把蛇埋了起來。想著那個可怕的說法，他也沒心情繼續放牛了，只好牽著牛回家。
「嗚嗚……」孫叔敖回家一看到媽媽，便開始掉眼淚。媽媽摸著孫叔敖的頭，關心地問他：「怎麼哭了呢？誰欺負你了？」孫叔敖邊擦著眼淚邊說「娘，有人說過，只要看到兩頭蛇就會死，我想我快死了！我不想離開您呀！」
媽媽很緊張地問：「現在蛇在哪裡？」孫叔敖說：「我怕別人看到也會死，所以已經把牠打死埋掉了。」媽媽這時候才放了心，拍拍他說：「孩子，你做了件好事，好心一定會有好報的， 所以你不會死的！」
後來，孫叔敖不但沒死，長大了以後，還當了楚國的大官。他愛護人民，又認真地做每一件事情，因此全楚國的人都很尊敬他。
In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a child in the State of Chu whose name was Sun Shu’ao. His father died when he was very young. And so, Sun Shu’ao and his mother lived a life of poverty in a rural village.
One day, Sun Shu’ao led his cow out to eat grass. Suddenly, a snake slithered out of a nearby bush and it had two heads! Sun Shu’ao was so scared, he picked up a rock from the ground, and killed the snake with it. Afterwards, Sun Shu’ao remembered the saying that“Whoever sees a two headed snake will die soon.” He looked at the corpse of the two-headed snake, and thought for a while. Then, he decided to dig a hole in the ground and bury the snake. As he was worried that he would die due to seeing the two-headed snake, Sun Shu’ao decided to head home with his cow.
“Boo hoo…”Sun Shu’ao began to cry when he saw his mother. His mother patted his head gently and asked,“Why are you crying? Who bullied you?”Sun Shu’ao wiped his tears and said,“Mum, I heard someone say that whoever sees a two-headed snake will die. I think I am going to die! But I don’t want to leave you!”
His mother hurriedly asked,“Where is the snake now?”Sun Shu’ao said,“I was afraid that someone else would see the snake and die too, so, I killed it and buried it.”Hearing this, Sun Shu’ao’s mother patted his head and said,“My child, you have done a good deed, and no good deeds go unrewarded. Therefore, you will not die.”
In the end, not only did Sun Shu’ao not die, but he grew up and became a high-ranking official of the State of Chu. He loved his people very much, and was hardworking too. This earned him the respect of the people of Chu.
