Ant spent the sunny days gathering seeds. Grasshopper liked to sing and did not think about winter. Then cold weather arrived. Grasshopper was hungry, so he asked Ant for help. Ant shared food and a dry place to rest. She also asked Grasshopper to help sort the stored seeds. He was glad to do it. The next summer, they planned ahead together. There was time for work and time for songs, and both friends enjoyed each season more.
A First Stories tale
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Slide left for a simpler telling and right for more detail. Your choice carries to the next story.
Open this version in the audiobook shelfAll summer, Ant carried food home. Grasshopper played music in the sun. When cold days came, Grasshopper had little to eat. Ant shared a warm meal and asked him to help store food next time. Grasshopper said yes. They worked together, and sometimes they made music together too.
Ant spent the sunny days gathering seeds. Grasshopper liked to sing and did not think about winter. Then cold weather arrived. Grasshopper was hungry, so he asked Ant for help. Ant shared food and a dry place to rest. She also asked Grasshopper to help sort the stored seeds. He was glad to do it. The next summer, they planned ahead together. There was time for work and time for songs, and both friends enjoyed each season more.
Throughout the summer, Ant carried grain into her storehouse. Grasshopper played his fiddle nearby and invited her to stop. Ant enjoyed the music but kept working. “Winter will come,” she said. Grasshopper thought the warm days would last forever.
When frost covered the field, Grasshopper found no food among the dry stems. He went to Ant and admitted he had not prepared. Ant gave him a bowl of grain and a place beside the fire. She asked if he would help organize the supplies so they would last. Grasshopper agreed. While they worked, he played a tune to keep up their spirits. The next year, he gathered food early and still found time for music. Ant learned that a song could make a hard task easier; Grasshopper learned that planning made winter gentler.
Ant kept a careful storehouse. During summer she gathered seeds, dried them, and counted what she would need when the fields were bare. Grasshopper, a musician, spent his days playing for whoever passed. He thought about food when he was hungry and about winter hardly at all. Ant warned him that the weather would change, but the sunny meadow made that difficult to imagine.
By the first frost, Grasshopper's audience had gone indoors and the plants had withered. He came to Ant's door and asked for help. Ant shared a meal. She also explained that her supplies had to last a long season, so they would need a plan. Grasshopper offered to help repair the storehouse and sort the grain. His music made the work cheerful, and Ant appreciated the company.
When spring returned, Grasshopper set aside part of every day's earnings. He did not stop playing; music was valuable work too. He simply learned to prepare for quiet months. Ant, in turn, made room in her plans for rest and pleasure. Their different talents worked best when joined to foresight and generosity.
As summer ripened, Ant hauled seeds to her storehouse in a steady procession. Grasshopper played music on a stem beside the path. He sometimes teased her for missing the sunshine, and she sometimes wondered how he could ignore the approaching cold. Neither understood quite how the other spent a day. Ant had a store to maintain; Grasshopper's songs drew listeners, but they rarely paid him in food.
Winter arrived early. The meadow emptied, and Grasshopper's usual audience vanished. Hungry and uncertain, he visited Ant. She had enough supplies for herself but not enough to feed another creature indefinitely. She offered him a meal and asked him to help count what remained. Together they made a plan: he would repair loose shelves, collect fallen firewood, and trade music lessons for food with nearby families.
The arrangement took work, yet it gave Grasshopper a way through the season without pretending his music was useless. When spring returned, he began saving a share of what he earned. Ant learned to stop sometimes and listen to a song. Preparation mattered; so did community. The two friends found that generosity was strongest when paired with a practical plan.
Inspired by Aesop's Fables. This text is a new adaptation.