Once upon a time, in a small village in Denmark, there was going to be a special high - jump competition. Three jumpers - a flea, a grasshopper, and a gosling - all came to participate in this competition, and each of them was full of confidence and had their own unique ideas and values.
The flea was the first to take the stage. Although his body was tiny, he had endless energy. He thought, "I'm so agile that I can surely jump the highest. I don't need to rely on anything external, just my own ability." The flea was full of fighting spirit. He believed that relying on one's own skills was the most important thing, and not depending on other forces was true strength.
The grasshopper looked at the flea and thought to himself, "Humph, although he is agile, I'm not bad either. I can not only jump high but also very gracefully." The grasshopper felt that his performance in the competition should be both beautiful and high - reaching, and only in this way could it be considered a real victory. He hoped to show his most perfect side in front of everyone, not only to win the competition but also to get everyone's praise.
Finally, it was the gosling's turn. The gosling walked over slowly. Unlike the flea and the grasshopper who relied on their own abilities and skills, he thought, "As long as I can get the help of those in power, I will surely win." It turned out that the gosling had already made good relationships with some local nobles. When those nobles saw the gosling coming, they all cheered for him beside.
The competition began. The flea jumped hard and very high, but because he was too small, no one saw how high he jumped. The grasshopper also jumped vigorously. He indeed jumped very high and his posture was very elegant, but the judges didn't seem to care much. And as for the gosling, amid the shouts of the nobles, he slowly walked to the bar. He didn't jump very high, but the judges announced that the gosling was the champion.
The flea and the grasshopper were very unconvinced. They thought this competition was too unfair. The flea said, "I jumped so high by my own strength, but I'm not recognized." The grasshopper also said, "I have both height and posture, but I lost to the gosling." But those nobles thought that the gosling was the winner who best conformed to their values, because the gosling knew how to use their power.
This story tells us that different people have different values. The flea represents those who are independent and rely on their own abilities; the grasshopper represents those who pursue perfect performance and hope to be recognized; and the gosling represents those who rely on power and are good at using relationships to achieve their goals. In life, we should think about what kind of person we want to be and also understand that there are all kinds of values in this world.
