LESSON 63 THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

1. A silly young cricket, accustomed [1] to sing

Through the warm sunny months of gay summer and spring,

Began to complain, when he found that at home

His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.

Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground;

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree:

Oh, what will become, said the cricket, "of me?"

2. At last, by starvation and famine [2] made bold,

All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,

Away he set off to a miserly [3] ant,

To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant

Him shelter from rain,

And a mouthful of grain:

He wished only to borrow,

And repay it to-morrow;

If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.

3. Said the ant to the cricket: "I'm your servant and friend;

But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend.

But tell me, dear sir, did you lay nothing by

When the weather was warm?"—Said the cricket: "Not I!

My heart was so light

That I sang day and night,

For all nature looked gay."—

You sang, sir, you say? Go, then, said the ant, "and dance winter away!"

Thus ending, he hastily opened the wicket [4] ,

And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.

4. Though this is a fable [5] , the moral [6] is good:

If you live without work, you will go without food.

* * *

[1] accustomed: Used; often practised.

[2] famine: Lack of food.

[3] miserly: Mean as a miser.

[4] wicket: Door or gate.

[5] fable: Fairy tale.

[6] moral: The lesson to be learned from a story.