One warm summer day an Ant was busy gathering food and laying it up for winter. A foolish little Grasshopper who saw him said: “Oh, you poor slave, why do you work so hard? See how I play and enjoy myself! Play and sing with me.” “No, no,” replied the Ant; “if I play now, what shall I have ready for winter?” “Oh, it isn’t winter yet,” said the idle long-legs, as he hopped off again to play. At last the cold, bitter winter came. Then the Grasshopper went to the Ant to beg for some food to keep from starving, but the Ant said, “Those who play and dance all summer must expect to dance hungry to bed in winter.”
17. THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL
Once a Fox went trot, trot, trot, toward a hen-roost to catch a hen. But the farmer had set a trap in which Mr. Fox caught his long, bushy tail, and it came right off. As he trotted back home, ashamed to be seen without his tail, he said: “I know what I will do; I will tell the foxes tails are ugly and useless. Let us cut them off.” So he called all the foxes in council, but he took good care to hold his back against a tree, so they could not see that he did not have a tail. While he was making his speech, urging them to cut off their tails, one little fox peeped behind the tree and cried, “Oh! Oh! he has lost his tail!” Then another fox gave him a push, and as he ran off in shame, all the foxes laughed, “That is why he wanted us to cut off our tails.”
18. THE BOY AND THE ECHO
“Hurrah! Hurrah!” shouted a boy in the woods one day. “Hurrah! Hurrah!” some one shouted back. He thought it must be another boy in the woods, and started off to find him, but no other boy was to be seen anywhere. “Where are you?” he called out. “Where are you?” came back at once. “You are mocking me!” he cried. “You are mocking me,” came again the voice. “You are a goose,” the boy cried, becoming angry. “You are a goose,” came back the same voice. The boy began to cry, and ran home to tell his mother that a bad boy hiding in the woods called him bad names. “Did he speak first or you?” his mother asked. When he explained it all, his mother said: “There was only one boy there, and you were that boy, and what you heard was your echo. If you had spoken kind words, only kind words would have come back to you.”
19. THE CAMEL IN THE TENT
One cold night an Arab sat in his tent, and his Camel asked if he might put his nose inside the tent to keep it warm. “Yes,” said the kind-hearted man. Soon the Camel said, “Please let me put my neck inside,” which his master permitted. “It will take no more room if I put my two front feet inside too, will it?” pleaded the Camel. The man moved a little to allow that. “May I please put my hump in too?” begged the Camel. Then, as soon as his hump was in, the Camel walked in altogether. The Arab began to complain, but the Camel said, “If you do not like this small space, you can go outside yourself.” Then he gave the Arab a push that landed him right out of his tent and stayed inside all by himself. That was the Arab’s reward for allowing the Camel to put his nose inside the tent.
20. THE MONKEY AND THE CATS
Two Cats who had stolen a large piece of cheese were quarreling over dividing it. At last they decided to refer the matter to a Monkey, who took a pair of scales and, breaking the cheese into two pieces, placed a piece in each scale. “Let me see,” he said, taking out the heavier piece, “this piece weighs more than the other.” Then he bit off quite a piece and put it back on the scale, and, of course, it was lighter than the other piece. So he took a mouthful from that side, and continued taking from first one side and then the other, until the Cats cried, “Hold! Hold! Give us the two pieces and we will be satisfied.” “Not so fast,” replied the Monkey, “justice must be given,” and he continued to nibble one piece after another. The Cats saw their cheese was almost gone and begged for what was left. “No, no, my friends,” said the Monkey, “what remains belongs to me for my pay!” So he crammed the rest into his mouth and munched it in hearty enjoyment as he solemnly dismissed the court.