THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

Many years ago there lived an ant. He was very hard working. “ I
must gather as much corn as I can. Summer will be over soon and
I need food for the winter,” thought the ant.The ant’s best friend
was a cricket. He was lazy. He sat playing his flute by a tree all
day. He did not care about going hungry in the winter.

When the cricket saw the ant working hard, he said, “Why do you
toil so hard ? Winter is so far away. Just sit down and listen to
me. I’ll play a melodious song for you.” But the ant had no time to
listen music. He said , “I can listen to your songs in the winter,
right now I have to collect corn.”

Soon it was winter. The ant was well prepared. He had collected
enough food to last him through the cold winter months. Meanwhile,
the lazy cricket had no food in his house at all. “I will get something
to eat. There is nothing to worry,” said the cricket to himself.

It was cold outside so the cricket could not look for food. He sat
in his house wondering, “Winter will soon pass. Then I will be able
to get myself lots of food.” Day by day the cricket felt weaker.
He had not eaten for many days. “If I don’t get something to eat
now, I will die. I must ask my friend, the ant, for some food,”
thought the cricket.

The cricket stepped out into the cold. He slowly walked to the ant’s
house. “The ant’s house seems so far away,” thought the cricket.
As he approached the ant’s house, he felt weak and collapsed
outside the door.

The kind ant helped the cricket to get in. The cricket had frozen
in the cold. The ant gave the cricket a blanket and some hot water
to warm himself. The ant took good care of the cricket.

The ant even gave the cricket some corn soup. The cricket drank
up the soup fast .He was really hungry, not having eaten for many
days.He thanked the ant for the soup.The ant put the cricket to
sleep on his bed. When he woke up, the cricket said, “I am sorry
to have laughed at you when you are working. Now I realize the
rewards of hard work.”

The cricket was truly ashamed of himself. “Please let me stay
here.I will eat very little,” cried the cricket. The ant felt sorry
for the cricket and agreed to let him stay. The cricket stayed with
the ant. They had a lot of fun together. “Look, the sun has come
up,” shouted the cricket, one morning. “Winter is over, now we can
go out,” said the ant.

The cricket went back to his house. The ant began to work in his
field. While the ant was hard at work, he saw the cricket was there
too, collecting corn. The ant and the cricket both worked together
happily.

MORAL VALUE

Work while you work,
play while you play

QUIZ

1. What was the cricket doing while the ant was

collecting food for winter ?

2. Why did the ant refused to listen to the song ?

3. Who did the cricket decided to ask for food ?

4. What food did the ant served the cricket ?

5. Where did the cricket stayed during the winter ?

6. What is the moral of the story ?

7. Describe the ant with two adjectives given in the

story.

PREPARED BY TEACHER PRIYA