The Ant and the Grasshopper

Part One · Summer

It was summer in the meadow. The sun was shining. The grass was tall and green.

Grasshopper sat on a long stem of grass. He played his fiddle and sang all day. "What a fine day!" he said.

Down below, a line of ants marched by. Each busy ant carried a seed or some corn.

"Why are you working so hard?" asked Grasshopper. "Come and sing with me. Come and dance!"

"We can't," said the little ant at the front. "We are putting away food for the winter."

"Winter?" laughed Grasshopper. "Winter is a long way off. There is lots of food right now!"

So Grasshopper played, and the ants worked. Every day, they carried food into their nest.

The days got shorter. The leaves turned yellow and orange. Still Grasshopper sang his happy songs.

Part Two · Winter

Then one morning, the wind was cold. White snow fell on the field. The tall grass was gone.

Grasshopper looked for seeds and corn. There were none, and his tummy began to rumble.

He shivered in the snow. He was cold and very hungry. At last he came to the ants' nest.

He knocked on the little door. "Please," he said. "May I have something to eat?"

The ants looked out. "What did you do all summer?" asked the little ant.

"I was busy," said Grasshopper. "I sang and played my fiddle all summer long."

"You sang all summer," said the ant. "So now you can dance all winter!"

Grasshopper hung his head. The ant was right. He had not thought about winter at all.

Then the little ant smiled. "Come in out of the snow," she said. "We have enough to share."

So Grasshopper sat by the ants' warm fire. He ate seeds and corn until his tummy was full.

Every evening he played his fiddle for them. The ants danced and danced.

When summer came again, Grasshopper sang and gathered food too. "There is a time to work," he said. "And there is a time to play!"