Traps behind the Leaves

There is a story about a cicada（蝉） in the Chinese classic, Chuang-Tzu. Once upon a time, a male cicada joyfully¹ joined his friends in singing the most beautiful praises of happy summer. He sang and sang, completely intoxicating² himself in the comfortable, hot afternoon without noticing a great danger approaching.

 

A couple of inches away, behind the singer, was a huge mantis³ extending his two powerful saw-like forelimbs, preparing to make a sudden attack on the helpless cicada. The mantis was concentrating on how to catch the delicate cicada for his late lunch and did not realize that a hungry yellow bird was hiding under the leaves, less than half a foot behind the mantis.

 

The bird was sure he could capture the mantis for his early supper, but he never dreamed that a mischievous⁴ boy standing⁵ under the branches was aiming at him with his hand-made bow. When the boy got the bird, he jumped up excitedly and hurt himself by a careless fall as he stepped into a big hole in front of him.

 

What the author of the book tried to tell us is that if you think you are smart enough to take advantage of another person, there is always somebody else who might be smarter than you, trying to take your advantage. The self-declared smartest person often becomes the victim of an unexpected accident.

 

There are traps behind leaves and under the branches. As long as you do not want to take advantage of someone else, you will be smart enough to defend yourself.

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