A grasshopper, fiddling the summer away,
Was amused at an ant as she toiled.
“Oh, why do you work? Your labors must irk,
And thus all your fun will be spoiled!”
“Ah, no,” said the ant, as she tugged at a seed.
“I must build for my winter supply!
You, too, should prepare lest your cupboard be bare!” –
But the grasshopper laughed his reply.
And after a time, when the frosty winds blew,
The ant was all snug in her hive,
But in meadow and grove the grasshopper strove
For morsels to keep him alive.
“Oh, give me some corn!” he implored of the ant,
Who had never a kernel to spare.
He who sows not today, tomorrow must pay,
And be ready to banquet on air.
