taking/should

[wowenglish1]

A thief wished to divert the attention of the watchdog so that he could rob a house. He threw a piece of meat to the dog, hoping that the dog would eat the meat instead of barking to warn the household. But the dog refused the offer of food and alerted the household. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.


I would like to know the grammatical difference between Taking(1) and Taking(2).
1. Taking her son to school, Sarah chats with another mom.
2. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.


I wonder if the meaning of "should" in "3" is obligation or expectation or anything.
3. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.

[philo2009]

Originally Posted by wowenglish1

A thief wished to divert the attention of the watchdog so that he could rob a house. He threw a piece of meat to the dog, hoping that the dog would eat the meat instead of barking to warn the household. But the dog refused the offer of food and alerted the household. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.


I would like to know the grammatical difference between Taking(1) and Taking(2).
1. Taking her son to school, Sarah chats with another mom.
2. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.


I wonder if the meaning of "should" in "3" is obligation or expectation or anything.
3. Taking a lesson from the dog, a wise man should beware of bribes.

There is no specifically 'grammatical' difference: both are present participles introducing nonrestrictive participle phrases.

Semantically, however, they differ in that #1 is a purely temporal (time-related) phrase, whereas #2 has something of a conditional sense (rather like saying "if he takes...").