The Ant and the Grasshopper

On one fine summer's day in a field

a Grasshopper was hopping about in a musical
mood. An ant passed by bearing along with great
toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
The grasshopper invited the ant to sit for a chat
with him. But the ant refused saying that "Im
storing up food for winter". " Why dont you do the
same?" asked the ant to thegrasshopper.
"Pooh! Why bother about winter?" said
the Grasshopper; we have got enough food at
present." But the Ant went on its way and
continued its toil.
Finally, when winter came, the Grasshopper found
itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing corn and grain from their storage.
Then the Grasshopper understood that

It is best to prepare for the days of

necessity.

The Tortoise and the Hare

The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other
animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I
put forth my full speed. I challenge anyone here to race
with me."
The tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around
you all the way."
"Keep your boasting until you've beaten," answered the
tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The hare
darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and,
to show his contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a
nap. The tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when
the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise
nearing the finish line, and he could not catch up in time
to save the race.

Plodding wins the race.

The Fox and The Grapes

Long long ago there lived a fox who loved to eat. He lived close to a
vineyard and he used to stare at the lovely grapes that hung there.
"How juice they look. Oh I am sure these are stuff that melts in the
mouth when you have them. If only I could reach them".
One sunny day, the fox woke up and saw the grapes glistening by the
sunlight. The vineyard looked heavenly and the grapes looked so
luscious that the famished fox could no longer control itself. He jumped
to reach them but fell down.
He jumped again. No, they were much higher.
He jumped even more. But they were still out of reach.
He jumped and stretched and hopped but to no avail. Those yummy
grapes hung higher than the fox could reach. No matter how hard he
tried, the fox could not reach the grapes. He panted and began to sweat
out of exhaustion.
Giving up finally, he looked up in contempt and said as he walked away,
"Those grapes surely must be sour. I wouldn't eat them even if they were
served to me on a golden dish."

It's easy to despise what you cannot

have.

The Bat, the Birds,

and the Beasts
A great conflict was about to come off between the
Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were
collected together the Bat hesitated which to join. The
Birds that passed his perch said:
"Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast."
Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath
him looked up and said:
"Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird."
Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no
battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and
wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned
against him and he had to fly away. He then went to
the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they
would have torn him to pieces.
"Ah," said the Bat, "I see now,

"He that is neither one thing nor

the other has no friends."

The bat,
the birds,
and
the beast
The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk
A Mouse, by an unlucky chance, formed an intimate
acquaintance with a Frog. The Frog one day, intent on
mischief, bound the foot of the Mouse tightly to his
own. Thus joined together, the Frog led his friend

toward the pool in which he lived, until he reached the

very brink, when suddenly jumping in, he dragged the
Mouse in with him. The Frog enjoyed the water
amazingly, and swam croaking about as if he had done
a meritorious action. The unhappy Mouse was soon
suffocated with the water, and his dead body floated
about on the surface, tied to the foot of the Frog. A
Hawk observed it, and, pouncing upon it, carried it up
aloft. The Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the
Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and was eaten
by the Hawk.

Harm hatch, harm

catch.

THE
MOUSE,
THE FROG,
AND
THE HAWK