【英】《伊索寓言》第1集：The Ant and the Grasshopper

On a warm summer day, a grasshopper jumped from stem to stem, nibbling a bit here and there as he practiced his jumps and leaps and spins. He spotted an ant far below on the dusty ground, lugging a kernel of corn.

The grasshopper jumped down and landed close to the ant. “Did you see that wonderful leap?” he asked.

“No, I missed it,” the ant said. “It’s easier to carry if I keep my head down and my back straight.”

“But why carry at all?” the grasshopper asked. “It looks like hot, dusty business.”

“I must help my sisters put away food for the winter,” the ant said as she hurried along.

At that, the grasshopper laughed and laughed. Winter was months and months away. How silly to let the beautiful summer pass without leaping and hopping and playing.

Every day the grasshopper would see the ant carrying corn and seeds and bits of crust dropped by people. It never looked like something the grasshopper would enjoy at all. Instead he danced the days away, nibbling grass whenever he wanted.


One day he was jumping and leaping in the crispy brown leaves when something white and wet fell right on his head. Snow!

“Winter is here,” the grasshopper gasped. “I must gather!” He hopped and leaped and spun, but he could find no green grass under the snow.

Finally the grasshopper crawled into a crack in a log, shivering. “The ant was right,” he chattered. “Save in the good times to help in the bad.”