The Grasshopper And The Ant – Jean De La Fontaine Fables

The Grasshopper, singing

All summer long,

Now found winter stinging,

And ceased in his song.

Not a morsel or crumb in his cupboard–

So he shivered, and ceased in his song.

Miss Ant was his neighbor;

To her he went:

“O, you’re rich from labor,

And I’ve not a cent.

Lend me food, and I vow I’ll return it,

Though at present I have not a cent.”

Lend me food and I vow I’ll return it.

The Ant’s not a lender,

I must confess.

Her heart’s far from tender

To one in distress.

So she said: “Pray, how passed you the summer,

That in winter you come to distress?”

“I sang through the summer,”

Grasshopper said.

“But now I am glummer

Because I’ve no bread.”

“So you sang!” sneered the Ant. “That relieves me.

Now it’s winter–go dance for your bread!”

Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks Adapted from the French of La Fontaine. Written by, W. T. Larned Illustrated by, John Rae.  New York, July 1918.

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