7. With three classmates, that will be the three ants, play the last part of the fable,—the part in which the last grasshopper goes from door to door. The fable tells what each ant says and does.
8. Another group of pupils may now play the whole story. Let them do it in their own way.[5] If the story is played well, the class will see everything as it happened.
8. Telling a Fable
The fable of the ants and the grasshoppers may be told in different ways.[21] You could tell it as if you were one of the ants. In that case the story might begin in this way:
I am a busy ant. I really have no time to stop to talk with you. But perhaps a few minutes' rest will do me good. Yes, I will tell you about the grasshoppers.
One day last summer I noticed some of these good-for-nothing fellows near the field where I was working. They were sunning themselves by the roadside. They were too lazy to work.
Or you could tell the fable as if you were one of the grasshoppers. Then it would perhaps begin as follows:
I am a grasshopper. I had a hard time last winter. All my companions died then. I think it is wonderful that I am still alive. But my health has been ruined.
You see, last summer we grasshoppers did not feel like doing any work. We thought it was more fun to dance and sing and to laugh at the ants. We thought they were foolish to work so hard.
Oral Exercise. Tell the fable of the ants and the grasshoppers in your own way. As you speak to your classmates, shall you play that you are an ant or a grasshopper?