The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer's day, a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping
and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with
great effort an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling
and moiling away?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the
Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why to bother about winter?"
said the Grasshopper; "we have got plenty of food at present."
But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came
the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in
the summer.
Then the Grasshopper knew...
Moral of the story: Work now and you can reap the benefits then.
THE STORY OF ABU NAWAS
A clever tale of wit and a man seeking retribution
One day, Abu Nawas had just returned home from the market when he was surprised to see
several people digging his yard. There were earth, stones and dirt flying everywhere! Abu saw
all the mess they were making and became upset.
Abu approached the people and asked angrily, “Hey! What are you doing here? Why are you
making a mess outside my house?” They did not answer. One of them showed him a letter.
Abu took the letter and read it. In the letter, it was written that the king had ordered those men
to find treasure buried in Abu’s yard.
Abu was furious but he could not do anything to disobey the king’s order.
After some time, the people stopped digging. They did not find any treasure. And to Abu’s
horror, they then left the yard without cleaning up the mess.
“The king will pay for this,” Abu grumbled to himself.
The following morning, Abu went to the palace bringing a plate that he covered with a napkin.
When he was in front of the king, he said, “Your majesty, these creatures have stolen my
food.”
Abu then removed the napkin and a swarm of flies flew away from the plate.
“So, the flies have stolen your food,” remarked the king.
“Yes, your Majesty. Please, give me a king’s order to allow me to hunt down flies.”
Abu’s request seemed ridiculous to the king but he relented and gave Abu a letter that gave him
permission to kill flies. After receiving the letter, Abu started hunting for flies in the market.
While walking around, Abu came upon a stall that sold oranges, and he saw that there were
flies on the fruit. He raised his hand and smacked the flies!
The flies managed to escape but the oranges were damaged. The seller was angry with Abu, but
Abu did not care and continued ahead.
Sometime later at the market, he saw another big fly land on a huge melon. Once again he
raised his stick to hit the fly but missed! Abu’s stick hit the melon instead and smashed it to
pieces.
The seller was most upset. But once again, Abu ignored him and left, just like that!
The fruit sellers were enraged and went to the king to report what had happened. The king
ordered Abu to see him.
“Abu, you did a very crazy thing. You damaged the fruits of these sellers,” bellowed the king.
“No, I didn’t, your Majesty,” Abu answered calmly. “I just hit the flies,” Abu continued. “You
gave me this letter, didn’t you, your Majesty?”
The king was about to say something in return when suddenly, a fly landed on his shoulder. Abu
saw it too.
Without warning, he smacked the fly, and along with it, the king’s shoulder. The king cried out
in pain and was outraged!
Yet, Abu did not feel guilty at all. He did not even apologise to the king and just produced the
letter that the king had given him earlier.
Thus, it was through his wit and intelligence that Abu was able to take his revenge on the king
without being punished in return.
