The Insects, the Bee, and the Ant
The Insects betook themselves one winter to the dwellings of the Bee and the Ant.
“Give us some food,” they said, “for we are dying of hunger.”
The others answered: “What do you do in summer time?”
“We rest on the spreading trees,” they replied, “and we cheer the traveller with our pleasant songs.”
“If that be so,” was the reply, “it is no wonder that you are dying of hunger; you are therefore no proper objects of charity.”
This fable shows that the foolish virgins ask charity, and those who are wise refuse to give, because there comes a time when not charity but justice is to be rendered.
During the time of this life, which is our summer, we must gather, by wisdom and industry, the spiritual food, without which, we shall be made, at the day of judgment, to die of hunger in hell.