The Spider and the Dragonfly and the Praying Mantis

  A Spider was obsessed with trapping a particularly large Dragonfly. His prey was impossible to snag and not just because a dragonfly is one of the fastest insects in the world. It is also so pointy it could pierce the Spider’s aerial web like a sewing needle through chunky yarn.

       To make matters worse, the Dragonfly would sometimes steal small insect fare while on its way through the web, which infuriated the Spider.

       The Spider tried everything to stop him. He tried spinning different silks. It spun sticky silk and fluffy silk and every kind of variation that its glands could muster. It built them horizontally and vertically. It tried funnel designs, dome designs and tubular designs. Nothing worked.

       One day, out of energy and out of gumption, the Spider sat on the edge of its web, his spirit as depleted as his stickiness. On a nearby tree, a green leaf caught his attention. The leaf appeared to undulate. Straining his eyes, the Spider could see there was a green Praying Mantis camouflaged on the green leaf. “Maybe I should ask her for some advice,” he thought, “after all, who better than a Praying Mantis to ask for spiritual guidance.”

       “Why don’t you try to meditate,” suggested the Praying Mantis.

       “Easy for you to say,” replied the Spider. “You look cool in your prayer-like stance, but what’ll I look like with my big head and short legs crossed into a Yoga position.”

        “Hey Spider,” said the Praying Mantis, “You need to get away a bit, get some distance and spend some time reflecting and analyzing and dreaming.”

       The idea of getting away seemed potentially refreshing, so the Spider walked to another tree, climbed high enough for a grand view, a view that would be conducive to a fresh perspective, and he relaxed. He let his mind wander and think about nothing in particular.

       Then the Spider spotted a dragonfly – not the dragonfly that he had obsessed over, just an ordinary dragonfly. Then it spotted another dragonfly. Then it spotted them posing for each other, and the pose they struck was some sort of ritual, a mating posture. The Spider saw the male and female dragonfly contort themselves into a wheel position, and it thought it kind of kinky when the dragonflies flew together, docked in tandem, the male towing the female in blissful flight. The Spider had an idea.

       The Spider trucked back to his web and wove a weave that looked exactly like a dragonfly in a mating position. And no sooner had this silky decoy been woven, when a dragonfly came into view. The Dragonfly aligned itself perfectly with the decoy and landed right on top of it in hopes of consummation, which is to say it had alighted on the sticky web and could not move to save its life. The Spider had caught the Dragonfly.

Moral: When it comes to reflecting and analyzing and dreaming, it is good to get away from the web.