The Ants and the Grasshopper

There was once a grasshopper who was a good musician. He loved to sing. He loved to play the fiddle. So all spring and summer, he played his music and sang his songs. Life was good. The sun was shining. The trees had a lot of fruit. Life was good. He sang and danced the whole day happily.

Once when he was lying on the grass and singing at the clouds, he saw a line of ants pass by. All the ants were carrying some food in their mouth. Some had bread crumbs. Some had grains of sugar. Some had small pieces of biscuit.

“Hey, come sing with me,” the grasshopper told the ants.

“We can’t. We have to collect food for the winter,” they said.

“It is still Spring. Why are you thinking of winter now?” asked the grasshopper.

“It is when things are fine that we have to work to make sure we are alright when things are not fine,” said the ants.

“How boring you are!” said the grasshopper. He continued to sing.

In summer, the grasshopper was playing his fiddle near a stream when he saw the line of ants again, walking past carrying fruit. Some carried small pieces of apple. Some carried cherries. Some carried plums.

“Stay and listen to music,” said the grasshopper.

“We can’t. Summer is passing. Soon there will be no fruit. We have to collect them now. Or there will be no fruit for us in Winter.”

“Humph – what worriers you are!” said the grasshopper. “Life is short. You must learn to enjoy it.” He continued to play the fiddle, laughing at the ants.

And then autumn came and the leaves turned all colors. The world was very beautiful. The grasshopper saw the ants carrying dried leaves and walking in a line. He was humming to himself and lying on some golden leaves.

“Come and enjoy looking at the beauty of the leaves with me,” he told the ants.

“We can’t,” said the ants. “We have to make our home warm and comfortable for the winter.”

“How sad your life is!” said the grasshopper. He hummed loudly and lay back on his bed of leaves.

Then winter came. All the leaves and fruits had left the trees. All the leaves on the earth were covered with snow. The grasshopper felt cold and hungry. He had made no warm house to sleep in. He had gathered no food for the winter.

He walked slowly to where the ants lived. He knocked at their door. The ants came out and looked at him.

“I am cold and hungry. Can you help me?” he asked the ants.

“Why don’t you sing and play the fiddle and lay back and watch the beauty of the leaves?” the ants asked.

The grasshopper had nothing to say to that. He just shivered in the cold.

The ants felt sorry for the grasshopper. So they took him in, gave him food and kept him warm on the biggest leaf they could find.

They were good, hardworking ants.