12.The Ants and the Grasshopper蚂蚁和蚱蜢

The Ants and theGrasshopper

By Aesop

1．One fine day in winter some antswere busy drying their store of corn , which had got rather damp during a longspell of rain . Presently up came a grasshopper and begged them to spare her afew grains . ＂For , ＂she said , ＂I’m simply starving . ＂The ants stopped work for a moment , though this was against theirprinciples . ＂May we ask , ＂said they , ＂what you were doing with yourselfall last summer ? Why didn’t you collect a store of food for the winter ?＂＂The fact is , ＂ replied the grasshopper , ＂I was so busy singing that I hadn’t the time . ＂If you spent the summer singing , ＂ replied the ants , ＂ you can’t do better than spend the winterdancing . ＂And theychuckled and went on with their work .

蚂蚁和蚱蜢

伊索

Aesop 伊索。

蚂蚁夏集冬粮，辛勤劳作，才能在冬日从容自得；而蚱蚂只知在美丽的夏日引吭高歌，终致严冬来临之际，饥寒交迫，走投无路。今朝的富足，要思及明日的困顿，凡事要未雨绸缪，以免遭受不必要的苦难与危险。所谓“居安思危，思则有备，有备无患。”

冬日一个阳光灿烂的日子，一些蚂蚁正忙着弄干它们的粮仓，由于下了很长时间的雨，粮仓里已经非常潮湿了。这时来了一只蚱蜢，向他们乞讨一点粮食。“可怜可怜我吧，”她说，“我饿坏了。”蚂蚁们停下了手头的工作，虽然这与他们的原则是相违背的。“我们能问你一下吗？”他们说，“一整个夏天你都在做些什么呢？为什么你不为冬天储存一些粮食呢？”“实际上，”蚱蜢回答，“我忙着唱歌，没有时间存储粮食。”“如果你一整个夏天都在唱歌，”蚂蚁们回答，“那么，你就在冬天跳舞吧，”他们笑着，又忙开了自己的工作。