Aesop 2013
An ant
worked hard all summer gathering grain from a farm far away. Every day the ant would walk to the farm and
drag the heavy grain back to his larder at home. Each way he passed a grasshopper who would be
singing and dancing.
“Come and sing
with me ant, it is summer, the days are long and the weather warm. Rejoice with me and enjoy the day.”
“I must not
stop gathering grain” said the ant, “or I shall starve come winter.”
The
grasshopper just laughed at the ant and continued to sing and dance.
This
continued every day in the summer. Then
came fall, and then came winter and the grasshopper was cold and became hungry,
while the ant was warm and sated.
The
grasshopper went to the home of the ant.
“Open up ant
and share your food while I warm up by your fire.”
“No” said
the ant, “all summer long you laughed at me as you sang and danced, and I
toiled in the hot summer sun.”
“Ah, but
while you were toiling in the hot summer sun and I was laughing, singing and
dancing, there was passed a law in the land declaring that you are in the one
percent and are required to share the food you have gathered.”
And so it
came to pass that the ant had to give up much of his hard earned grain, and he
was forced to allow the grasshopper to enjoy his shelter and his fire.
The ant
survived the winter, though not as warm or as well fed as he had imagined
during his hard summer of toil. The
grasshopper ate by the fire and sang and danced in the warmth.
It is silly indeed to worry about
tomorrow today, as long as there are ants.
That's one of my favorite fable Joe :)
ReplyDeleteIs that grasshopper playing his music on a subsidized fiddle?
ReplyDeleteIf people play the roles of the grasshopper and the ant, who would you chose for these roles with so many categories of people to chose from? :)
ReplyDeleteI think tomorrow will come faster when all the ants start moving to anthills in other countries. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, Joe......you knew I would not quite agree on this one. Yes, I get the premise and it has a crumb of truth and merit, but it's all a matter of degree. If someone with billions of seeds is not willing to share just a few out of the goodness of their hearts, then they deserve a law that "encourages" them to do so.
ReplyDeleteIf you are hungry you can have some of my cake.....I could never eat it all anyway and I can always bake another one.
Go on and laugh....it's OK.
...and the grasshopper befouled the ant's home by spitting his tobacco juice all willy-nilly around the hearth.
ReplyDeleteThe passers of such laws should be shot!
ReplyDelete