Source text · edition and source credits · no added LexiArk translation or commentary

Fable · Story

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Aesop (George Fyler Townsend translation)Ancient Greek fable tradition · Townsend translationStory
SOURCE TEXT · English source edition
THE ANTS were spending a fine winter’s day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, “Why did you not treasure up food during the summer?” He replied, “I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in singing.” They then said in derision: “If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter.”