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Kana's英語のことわざ・名言手帖

By Kana Ishiguro / 石黒 加奈

世界の名言やことわざの意味を、石黒加奈さんが自分自身の体験を例に挙げながら解説してくれます。注釈・ミニクイズ付きです。
「ちょびつき」留学日記・高校編はこちら
「ちょびつき」留学日記・大学編はこちら
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「ちょびつき」留学日記・作家生活編はこちら
筆者へお便りを送る

Kana Ishiguro

Vol. 10 : As you sow, so shall you reap

(種をまいたように収穫はあるもの)

 

Everyone, at some point or another, has probably come across that ancient Greek fable by Aesop called "The Ant and the Grasshopper." This is the story where the ever-diligent ant works his butt off during the hot summer while the lazy grasshopper wiles the time away, singing and having fun. And then what happens when winter comes? The ant lives in comfort, sitting inside his home, warming himself by the fire, while the grasshopper freezes outside, without food or shelter.

The moral is pretty obvious, I think, and it's along the same lines as this week's proverb: Don't slack off or else you'll regret it in the future; prepare for what's to come and you won't be sorry later.

Both the fable and the proverb also imply that you really have to make an effort over the long term. The process of planting (sowing) and harvesting (reaping) is a long one, and likewise, good things will only come from a long period of hard work. For example, you can't just practice like mad on the piano for a couple of hours and expect to become a concert pianist. Or you can't expect to lose weight after going to the gym for just a few days.

Yes, it's a truism. It's something that we all know, but at the same time, most of us are very resistant to the idea. After all, working hard can be very, very dull. But what we need is inspiration. What we need to do is focus on the harvest, people!

Firstly, let's get down to some brainstorming about all the cool things you'd like to have, or do in the future: Perhaps you want a fridge just for ice cream or the perfect collection of fountain pens from every corner of the globe, perhaps you want to hang out in the hottest clubs with the coolest people, while all the Lindsays and Parises of the world are turned away at the door, or perhaps you just want to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

OK, so you've got your fantasy in your mind's eye. Keep it there! Or if you have the kind of memory that I have, write your fantasies down and pin it to the back of the toilet door, or paste images related to it in a scrapbook.

This way you will have something concrete to remind you what you're working for, and remember, the more vivid the fantasy the better. So that's my advice for this week. Don't work for work's sake, work for a goal, a goal that's fashioned out of your own imaginative flights of fancy. And as I said before, focus on the harvest, people!

 

Q1 To "not be sorry later," you must:
A1) Work hard and prepare for what's ahead.
A2) Imagine all the possible things you could achieve and then pretend you've already done them.
A3) Enjoy every moment of your life and don't worry about bad things that might happen.



Q2 What is Kana's advice about work?
A1) Work as hard as possible for the sake of other people
A2) Always keep thinking about a target
A3) Make sure your work is imaginative



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