by Aesop (620-560 BC)
Once there
lived an ant (mravec) and a grasshopper (kobylka) in a grassy meadow (lúka). All day long
the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat (pšenica) from the farmer's field (pole) far
away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light
enough to see by, and toil (to work hard, carrying) back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her
head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder (špajza), and then
hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without
stop or rest, scurrying (running) back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of
wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.
Illustration by Milo Winter
The
grasshopper would look at her and laugh. "Why do you work so hard, dear ant?"
he would say. "Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days
are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?"
The ant would
ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This
would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. "What a silly little ant you
are!" he would call after her. "Come, come and dance with me! Forget about
work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!" And the grasshopper would hop away
across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.
Summer faded
into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the
days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold,
and snow began to fall.
The
grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had
nowhere to shelter from the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the
farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no food to be had.
"Oh what
shall I do? Where shall I go?" wailed (nariekal) the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered
the ant.
"Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!"
declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the ant's house and
knocked at her door.
"Hello ant!" he cried cheerfully. "Here I am, to sing for
you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me some food from that larder
of yours!"
The ant looked
at the grasshopper and said, "All summer long I worked hard while you made fun
of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find
somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!"
And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face.
The moral of the story: It is wise (múdry) to
worry about tomorrow today.
My own take on the story: If you want to earn a living through song and dance, you'd better be good at it.
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