A beggar followed a lady and asked her for some money. She refused, so he turned away sadly and said he must do what he had made up his mind to do.  At this word, the lady was greatly frightened for she was afraid for his life. So she called him back and gave him a dollar. The beggar took the money, put it into his pocket, and thanked her a great deal. "You have saved me from a terrible fate," he said. The lady asked him what he meant. The beggar replied, "Madame, I have been begging all day, but only you have taken pity on me. Without this dollar you gave to me, I should have had to go to work now. In the story, "a horrible fate" means   _
to beg to go to work to die to live a hard life