The ant and the grasshopper
Once there lived an ant and a
grasshopper in a grassy meadow.
All day long the ant would
work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She
would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see
by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would
put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the
field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest,
scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and
storing them carefully in her larder.
The grasshopper would look at
her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say. 'Come, rest
awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why
waste the sunshine in labour and toil?'
The ant would ignore him, and
head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the
grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you are!' he would call
after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer!
Live a little!' And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing
and dancing merrily.
Summer faded into autumn, and
autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and
grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to
fall.
The grasshopper didn't feel
like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to shelter from
the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in
snow, and there was no food to be had. 'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?'
wailed the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the
ant and ask her for food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So
off he went to the ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully.
'Here I am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me
some food from that larder of yours!'
The ant looked at the
grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me,
and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find somewhere
else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!' And the ant
shut the door in the grasshopper's face.
[permalink]
Posted: April 22nd 2014 02:45
