The fable of the ant and the beanstalk conveys a lesson about hard work and laziness, but it’s worth questioning whether its lessons are still relevant in the modern world. Sacrificing too much for the future or pursuing pleasures in the present can both cause problems, and it’s important to find balance and harmony in your life.
The Ant and the Beanstalk is a classic Aesop’s fable that everyone has heard at least once in their childhood. We all know that the beetle sings and plays all summer long. The ant, on the other hand, works hard to gather food for the winter. When winter comes and there’s no food to eat, the mouse asks the ants for help, and thanks to their diligence, the mouse is able to survive the winter. (This story may seem like a simple fable, but it contains a very deep lesson. The values and ways of life conveyed through fables have been passed down through the generations and have had a profound impact on people’s outlook on life and how they behave.) Aesop’s fables teach us to emulate the hardworking ant. In the end, people think that ants are better insects and should be emulated.
However, I wonder if this is a realistic interpretation, or if it is too systematized. (Do the lessons in Aesop’s fables still hold true in the modern world, or do we need to reinterpret the story as times and circumstances change? These are questions we need to reflect on more deeply.) What are the characteristics of the ant in Aesop’s fable? The ant is a symbol of a mindset that focuses on the long term, on what is best for the future. In contrast, the Beetle represents a mental system that focuses on the short-term, on immediate rewards and pleasures.
(It’s not enough to simply divide ants and beanpoles into future and present, or responsibility and pleasure. Human life is a complex mix of both and requires balance. Just as a life that ignores the pleasures of the present in favor of the future is not necessarily a good life, chasing after the pleasures in front of us is not always the right choice. Our society often celebrates the industriousness of an ant as a virtue, and the attitude of a beanpole as lazy, but human happiness often defies this simplistic schema).
The important point here is that the bee is not always an evil force. They both have their best interests at heart, just at different times. In fables, ants may be the epitome of a “good story,” but for humans in the real world, things are not so simple. It is part of our evolution to feel good when we act on our desires, possess and consume, guided by the short-sightedness of our minds. It’s hard to deny that these short-term, self-centered impulses contribute to our physical, financial, and mental well-being.
But this is where the ant’s mental system comes in, a system that recognizes that sacrifices must be made now in order to reap rewards in the future. The problem is that if you listen to the ant’s voice entirely, what may seem like a good thing at first doesn’t necessarily lead to the best life. (In reality, life is all about balance. Both extremes of sacrificing too much for the future or, conversely, pursuing only present pleasures can lead to problems. You need to be able to enjoy every moment of your life and prepare for the future at the same time.)
The reality is that if you postpone pleasure, you will only end up with an old body and loneliness. There was a time when diligence was a virtue, when you could make a living by being diligent. But times have changed too much to rely on diligence alone. (The modern world is no longer a place where hard work and diligence are enough. Today, creativity, flexibility, and the ability to adapt to new circumstances are important, so we need to revisit Aesop’s fables and find new lessons for the modern world.)
If Aesop were living in our time, he would not have condemned the beggar. In this day and age, there are many different ways to make a living. It is possible to find a talent that you are good at and turn it into a means of living. The happiest people will be those who can turn work into play and play into work to create value. What talents you have is important, but more importantly, how you use your talents in a fun way.
Also, Bechdan was originally a cicada, not a bechdan. But when it spread to other countries, the insect was changed to a cicada because there were no cicadas in those countries. But cicadas are insects that live in the ground for decades, mating and dying in the summer, so they don’t need to prepare for winter. (This is where we need to think about the cultural context of fables. It’s important to understand how the story changed as it traveled from region to region, and what those changes meant.) But why do we perceive ants as superior? It’s because we live in a temperate culture that is represented by ants. If you tell this story to a non-temperate country, they won’t understand it. In the end, this novel is customized for children living in a temperate culture. The values and standards of life in the story are shaped by the environment in which they live.
