Once upon a time there lived a man who was bored with his life in the village. Captivated by travelers' stories about the “big world,” he increasingly yearned to enter it and free himself from the restrictions that surrounded him at every step.
Finally, he made a decision and in the morning he went out onto the road leading away from the village to the Big World.
Soon he met a fellow traveler, who, it seemed to him, was experienced in the intricacies of the “big world”, and decided to join him. A little time passed, and his fellow traveler (whom we will call the Sage) said:
- Look, what is this thing lying on the side of the road and what can you do with it?
Our hero looked and saw that it was a swarm of bees attached to a rotten stump.
- It's a swarm of bees! I think it's better to take it with you, maybe you can sell it.
With these words, he took off his cloak and, making a bag out of it, collected most of the bees and threw them on his back. Some bees managed to crawl out and, circling with an angry buzz, they attacked the traveler and bit him. He dropped the bag and jumped up and down, rubbing his hand. Then he grabbed the bag and began to beat it on the stone until he knocked out all the bees from his cloak.
The sage said:
- Calm down. Let's sit down and think about it, what are you doing?
— It was a normal reaction - the bees bit me.
- Is it normal to punish all the bees for what some have done?
“You know that anyone in my place would do this!” - he said, thinking how slow-witted these philosophers really are.
“Let’s listen to what the bees think.” The sage made a magic sign, and they heard the conversation of three bees sitting nearby.
One of the bees addressed the other:
- Oh, Teacher! As the Wisest Bee of the Age, perhaps you can explain to us what happened?
- Of course. Several creatures from the Big World came and tried to capture us. Some of us bit them, it was a normal reaction, and one of these creatures threw us against a rock in anger
One of the bees asked:
- Do they always act like this?
- They always behave the same under the same circumstances. However, all this would not have happened if some of you had not longed to get into the Big World, not knowing anything about what awaits us in it.
One of the bees said:
- Well, if this is the Big World, then I, personally, abandon all searches for the Big World and leave your School, no matter how wise you are...
“You are the same,” said the Sage to the traveler. “You want to enter the Big World, but as soon as you step on the road, you do things that you regret.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru