One fine day in winter some Ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently up came a Grasshopper and begged them to spare her a few grains, “For,” she said, “I'm simply starving.” The Ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. “May we ask,” said they, “what you were doing with yourself all last summer? Why didn't you collect a store of food for the winter?” “The fact is,” replied the Grasshopper, “I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time.” “If you spent the summer singing,” replied the Ants, “you can't do better than spend the winter dancing.” And they chuckled and went on with their work.
一个晴朗的冬日，蚂蚁正忙着晾晒自己收藏的粮食，前段日子下了很长时间的雨，这些粮食都发潮了。不一会儿，走来了一只蚱蜢，她向蚂蚁乞讨，希望他们能分她一些粮食。“我都快饿死了。”她说。蚂蚁暂时停下了工作，尽管这有悖于他们的原则。他们说：“我们能问一下，你在整个夏天都在做什么吗？为什么你没有收集储备过冬的食物呢？”蚱蜢回答：“实际上，我夏天都在忙着唱歌，没有时间。”蚂蚁回答：“如果你夏天都在唱歌，那你最好用跳舞来过冬。”他们笑了一阵，便又接着干起了活。