The Snail Looking for Happiness

The Snail Seeking Happiness

A snail is born with a home, but it was never satisfied with its own. Many envied that it had a warm family without working hard for it, yet it thought its home was too ordinary and brought no honor. It thought the sparrow’s nest on high branches allowed it to look down on others from above; the bees’ hive was beautiful and grand, and the spider’s web was even better as it could live worry-free about food just by virtue of its advantageous home.

Crawling on the ground every day and working hard for survival made the snail feel inferior. Seeing rabbits run fast, sparrows chatter proudly on high branches, bees travel across mountains and rivers, and ants gather treasures in their dens, the snail resolved to change its life and destiny.

Because of its humble origin, it always looked up to others with admiration, so it longed to reverse this and look down on others' lives from above. With this goal set, it began climbing towards higher branches.

Carrying its heavy shell, it climbed very slowly. Day after day, it gradually lost confidence and grew tired of the hardship and toil. It increasingly felt that its home was a burden, an obstacle to its path to happiness. It gradually developed the idea of abandoning its home to seek another way out.

Finding a new, prestigious, and happy home became its goal. After some deliberation, it set its sights on the spider. It chose the spider because its home was not only on high branches but also offered a superior lifestyle. The snail once visited the spider's home, standing high above and looking down at the ants and rabbits laboring below. The snail found the sense of superiority and detachment from worldly concerns.

The snail and the spider started dating, and when things got intense, the spider asked the snail to abandon her home and shell, join the web, and live together.

The snail couldn't be happier, secretly marveling that if she hadn’t had ideals and aspirations, she would have remained a lowly snail crawling on the ground forever, never seeing the direction of happiness.

She asked God to remove her home and shell. God said: "This is my gift to you, unique among all creatures, divinely matched, and cannot be separated by humans. Today if you want it removed, are you not afraid of punishment?" The snail firmly believed she was right, that she had a mind, and insisted on leaving her home and shell. So God removed them. Although separating from her home caused her great pain, both physically and mentally, bleeding profusely, for the sake of future happiness, she resolutely parted ways with her home.

After enduring the excruciating pain of separation, she healed her wounds and became a free-moving snail. The spider welcomed her onto the web.

At first, she indeed felt the sense of superiority, but gradually, she became increasingly uncomfortable. Before, with her shell, although laborious and poor, when it rained or shone brightly, she could simply retreat into her shell. Now, hanging on the web without her shell's protection, she couldn't adapt to the sun's scorching heat or the wind and rain. The spider, long accustomed to such a life, felt nothing, while she felt like being punished. The spider thought she was too delicate, and she had no way to express herself. Since they were not of the same kind, with different life experiences and cultural customs, many things couldn't be communicated, and even if they could, the other party wouldn't understand. She gradually felt extremely lonely and unsupported.

At this point, Pickled Vegetable Superman —— Pickled Vegetable and Egg, reminded her of her shell and home. She sneaked back to check on her home, only to find a new snail living in her shell. When she wanted to return, there was no way back.

Living in the spider's home, she indeed didn't need to work hard and had enough to eat and drink, but due to lack of exercise from daily idleness, her body became weaker and weaker. Having nothing to do led to her spiritual emptiness. The spider was busy weaving new webs and catching new insects, leaving her alone on the web every day. Instead of feeling solid happiness, she experienced a sense of void, suspended in the air.

She kept asking God: Why, after enduring the pain of separation from her flesh and blood, abandoning her home and shell to seek happiness, did she end up with such a result? God smiled without answering. Finally, one day, the sparrow told her: Most people who think they are smart and wise, refuse advice, and don't cherish what they already have, often end up like this.

After hearing these words, the snail's heart turned cold. On a stormy night, she accidentally fell off the web and froze to death on the ground.