Part 6 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE ANTS AND THE GRa.s.sHOPPER

One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm suns.h.i.+ne, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Gra.s.shopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.

”What!” cried the Ants in surprise, ”haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?”

”I didn't have time to store up any food,” whined the Gra.s.shopper; ”I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone.”

The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.

”Making music, were you?” they cried. ”Very well; now dance!” And they turned their backs on the Gra.s.shopper and went on with their work.

_There's a time for work and a time for play._

THE a.s.s CARRYING THE IMAGE

A sacred Image was being carried to the temple. It was mounted on an a.s.s adorned with garlands and gorgeous trappings, and a grand procession of priests and pages followed it through the streets.

As the a.s.s walked along, the people bowed their heads reverently or fell on their knees, and the a.s.s thought the honor was being paid to himself.

With his head full of this foolish idea, he became so puffed up with pride and vanity that he halted and started to bray loudly.

But in the midst of his song, his driver guessed what the a.s.s had got into his head, and began to beat him unmercifully with a stick.

”Go along with you, you stupid a.s.s,” he cried. ”The honor is not meant for you but for the image you are carrying.”

_Do not try to take the credit to yourself that is due to others._

A RAVEN AND A SWAN

A Raven, which you know is black as coal, was envious of the Swan, because her feathers were as white as the purest snow. The foolish bird got the idea that if he lived like the Swan, swimming and diving all day long and eating the weeds and plants that grow in the water, his feathers would turn white like the Swan's.

So he left his home in the woods and fields and flew down to live on the lakes and in the marshes. But though he washed and washed all day long, almost drowning himself at it, his feathers remained as black as ever. And as the water weeds he ate did not agree with him, he got thinner and thinner, and at last he died.

_A change of habits will not alter nature._

[Ill.u.s.tration]