The Ant and the Grasshopper

Once there lived an Ant and a Grasshopper in a field of grass meadows. Both were very good friends. The Grasshopper was hopping about, playing games, chirping, dancing and singing merrily to its heart content all day long. The lazy Grasshopper used to spend every day in this manner. The Ant was very hard working, bustling about in the warm sunshine the entire summer afternoon.

Grasshopper

It was a beautiful summer day. The Grasshopper was as usual playing. Just then, a group of ants walked by, grunting as they struggled to carry plump kernels of corn. The ants were collecting grains of corn from the farmer’s field to their nest. They wanted to store the food for the winter. The ants 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 corn balanced on their head. All day long they would work, without a stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of corn and storing them carefully in their nest.

The Grasshopper called his Ant friend, who was also passing along the group of ants and he was carrying an ear of corn to the nest.

Ant

The Grasshopper asked the Ant, “Where are you going with all the heavy foods on your back? The Ant did not stop and replied, “We are carrying these foods to our anthill”.

The Grasshopper said, “Why not come and chat with me?” The Ant refused and said, “I am helping to lay up food for the winter, this is the third kernel I've delivered today and you should also do the same. What will you eat when the weather gets cold?”

The grasshopper said, “Why should I bother about the winters? Winter is far away and it is so glorious day to play. We have got plenty of food at present. Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?” But the ant ignored him and went on his way and continued to gather food. This made the grasshopper laugh. “What a silly little ant you are, come and dance with me, enjoy the summer.” And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.

Summer faded into autumn, the ants kept working, the grasshopper kept playing, and the autumn soon turned into winter. When the winter came, the weather turned cold, the sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights were long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall. All the food lying in the field was covered with a thick white blanket of snow. The grasshopper could not dig through the snow and find a single grain of food to eat. Soon he was starving, got very tired and found himself dying out of hunger. The grasshopper didn’t feel like singing anymore and wailed in pain “Oh! what shall I do now? Where shall I go?” Suddenly he remembered about his friend - the Ant. “Ah! I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!”

The ants had prepared for the winter and had just enough food stored in the nest to last through the cold and harsh weather.

He staggered to the ants' hill and saw them enjoying the corn they had collected in the summer.  He begged them for something to eat “Hello ant! Here I am, to sing for you, while I warm myself by your fire, could you get me some food to eat from your larder!” The ant refused and said, “All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! You should have worked out in summers rather than just sitting and singing. I can't feed you all winter, or else I'll starve too."

The grasshopper whined, "I didn't have time to store any food, I was so busy playing music that before I knew the summer was gone." The ants shook their heads in disgust, turned their backs on the grasshopper and went on with their work.

But when the starving Grasshopper, fiddled under his arm and humbly begged for a bite to eat, the ant gave him a few crumbs. But the grasshopper was cold, miserable, and hungry all winter.

The next summer, the Grasshopper worked hard to store food for the upcoming winter, so that next winter he would be well fed with enough food to survive the entire winter and live happily. He had learned to think ahead and plan for the future. 

Moral: Prepare today for what you would need tomorrow.

Reference: Various.

More Stories for Children on this blog--
The Peacock and the Crane
Honesty is the best Policy
The Ant and the Dove
The Fox and the Grapes
The Magic of Patience

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.