Once upon a time, there were three high jumpers. They were a flea, a grasshopper, and a toy called a goose. This toy was made of goose bones, thread, wood and wax, and could be bounced.
The three contestants decided to compete to see who could jump the highest. They invited many people to come and watch the competition, including the king and the ministers in the palace, the pets and the people.
The king said to everyone, “I will marry my daughter to the one who jumps the highest. It won’t do to let them jump for nothing. There has to be a reward.”
The first to jump was the flea
The flea was very polite when it came on the stage, and it nodded its head in greeting to the audience. The flea usually jumped around on people a lot, especially young ladies, so it was very used to being around people and looked very poised.
It crouched down and jumped hard – very high, so high that no one could even see it. But because no one could see it, some people suspected that it hadn’t jumped at all and thought it was cheating.
Then the grasshopper comes out
The grasshopper looks like it has a bigger body, but it has a beautiful green shell, like it’s wearing a green suit sent by nature. People say it’s from Egypt and has a long family history, so it’s well respected too.
It lives in a small house built with cards that are still cut from playing cards with beautiful women drawn on them. It said proudly, “I sing so well that sixteen crickets can’t afford to live in this kind of paper house even after they grew up singing, and they’re so jealous when they hear me sing that they’re even thin.”
It jumped as it spoke, not very high, but right in front of the king’s face. The king was startled, and said unhappily, “That’s a rude jump!”
And finally, the jumping goose
The jumping goose said nothing. It stood still and didn’t move. Everyone thought it couldn’t jump at all and was a little disappointed.
The palace dog went over and sniffed it and said, “It’s from a superior family, I can smell it.”
An old counselor, who never talked much but had won three medals, chimed in, “Jumping geese aren’t easy. It can predict the weather, and just by looking at the bones on its back it can tell if it’s going to be cold this winter. That’s not something ordinary people can do.”
The Jumping Goose thought for a moment, slowly squatted down, and then suddenly jumped with great force – not very high, but landing right on the princess’s knee. At that moment the princess was sitting on a little golden stool.
The king said happily, “It jumped the best! Because it jumped on my daughter, that was the smartest jump. One who can think of that is truly brainy.”
So the jumping goose married the princess and became a prince.
After the contest was over, the flea and the grasshopper were defiant
The flea got angry and said, “I jumped the highest, but it’s a pity no one saw it! Just because I’m small, people say I didn’t jump, that’s so unfair!” Later it went to a foreign country to become a soldier and was said to have died in battle.
As for the grasshopper, it sat on the edge of the field and thought for a long time, and finally also said, “Alas, it seems that size is really important!” Then it sang sadly. The story, then, came down from its song.
Of course, no one knows if this story is true. It’s just that someone wrote it down later and printed it in a book.
The moral of the story
This story sounds like it’s about animals competing in a high jump, but it’s actually telling us some truths:
- Not whoever does the best will always be seen: the flea jumped high, but because it was so small, no one saw its effort and it didn’t win.
- Smartness is more important than hard work: the jumping goose didn’t jump high, but jumped to the key spot (the princess’s knee) and got the win in the end.
- Appearance and skill both affect how others see you: the grasshopper jumped, but jumped in the king’s face instead, making him annoying.
In real life, we often encounter this situation: we do a lot of hard work but are not seen, or we accidentally go in the wrong direction and it backfires. This fairy tale is a simple story that tells us that not only do we need to work hard, but we also need to use our brains and the right way to succeed.
