The Ant and the GrasshopperOn one fine summer's day in a field aGrasshopperwas 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.Thegrasshopperinvited the ant to sit for achat withhim. 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 theGrasshopper; we have got enough food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

Finally, when winter came, theGrasshopperfound itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing corn and grain from their storage.

Then theGrasshopperunderstood that

It is best to prepare forthe daysof 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 myfull 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 youall 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 almostout of sightat once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the tortoise,lay downto have a nap. The tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise nearingthe finishline, and he could not catch up in time tosave therace. Plodding wins the race.

The Fox and The GrapesLong 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 inthe mouthwhen you have them.If onlyI could reach them".One sunny day, the fox woke up and saw the grapes glistening by the sunlight. The vineyardlookedheavenly and the grapeslookedso 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 butto no avail. Those yummy grapes hung higher than the fox could reach. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could notreach thegrapes. He panted and began to sweat out of exhaustion.

Giving upfinally, helookedup 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 turnedagainst 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,ANDTHE HAWK