Book I I — The Grasshopper and the Ant1
A Grasshopper gay
Sang the summer away,
And found herself poor
By the winter’s first roar.
Of meat or of bread,
Not a morsel she had!
So a begging she went,
To her neighbour the ant,
For the loan of some wheat,
Which would serve her to eat,
Till the season came round.
‘I will pay you,’ she saith,
‘On an animal’s faith,
Double weight in the pound
Ere the harvest be bound.’
The ant is a friend
(And here she might mend)
Little given to lend.
‘How spent you the summer?’
Quoth she, looking shame
At the borrowing dame.
‘Night and day to each comer
I sang, if you please.’
‘You sang! I’m at ease;
For ’tis plain at a glance,
Now, ma’am, you must dance.’
[1] For the story of this fable, as for the stories of so many of the fables which follow, especially in the first six books, La Fontaine is indebted to the Father of Fable, Aesop the Phrygian. See account of Aesop in the Translator’s Preface.