ENGLISH SHORT STORY Part I

Aesop's Fables

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing with great toil some rice he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of working like that?"

"I am helping to store food for the winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have  plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

When the winter came the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing rice and grain from the storage they had collected in the summer.

Then the Grasshopper knew:  It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

THE FOX AND THE GOAT

A FOX fell into a well, and although it was not very deep, he found that he could not get out again. After he had been in the well a long time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought the Fox had gone down to drink, and so he asked if the water was good.

"The best water in the whole country," said the crafty Fox, "Jump in and try it. There is more than enough for both of us."

The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in and began to drink. The Fox just as quickly jumped on the Goat's back and leaped from the tip of the Goat's horns out of the well.

The foolish Goat now saw what a plight he had got into, and begged the Fox to help him out. But the Fox was already on his way to the woods.

"If you had any  common sense, " he said as he ran, "you would have been more cautious about finding a way to get out again before you jumped in."

Moral:             Look before you leap.

THE OWL AND THE GRASSHOPPER

THE OWL always  sleeps during the day. Then, after sundown, when the  light fades from the sky and the shadows rise slowly through the woods,  she comes out, ruffling and blinking, from the old hollow tree. Now her weird "hoo-hoo-hoo-oo-oo" sound echoes through the quiet forest, and she begins her hunt for the bugs and beetles, frogs and mice she likes  to eat.

Now there was a certain old Owl who had become very cross and hard to please as she grew older, especially if anything disturbed her daily slumbers. One warm summer afternoon as she dozed away in her den in the old oak tree, a Grasshopper nearby began a joyous but very discordant song. Out came the old Owl's head from the opening in the tree that served her both for door and for window.

"Get away from here, sir," she said to the Grasshopper. "Have you no manners? You should at least respect my age and leave me to sleep in peace!"

But the Grasshopper answered  that he had as much right to his place in the sun as the Owl had to her place in the old oak.  Then he struck up a louder and still more discordant tune.

The wise old Owl knew quite well that it would do no good to argue with the Grasshopper, nor with anybody else for that matter. Besides, her eyes were not sharp enough by day to permit her to punish the Grasshopper as he deserved. So she laid aside all hard words and spoke very kindly to him.

"Well sir," she said, "if I must stay awake, I am going to settle down and enjoy your singing. Now that I think of it, I have a wonderful wine here,  which I got from the finest winery. I am told that when someone drinks this wine he can sing more beautifully than ever. Please come up and taste this delicious drink with me.

The foolish Grasshopper was taken in by the Owl's flattering words. Up he jumped to the Owl's den, but as soon as he was near enough so the old Owl could see him clearly, she pounced upon him and ate him up.

Moral: Flattery is not a proof of true admiration.

THE YOUNG CRAB AND HIS MOTHER

 "WHY in the world do you walk sideways like that?" said a Mother Crab to her son. "You should always walk straight forward with your toes turned out."

"Show me how to walk, mother dear," answered the little Crab obediently, "I want to learn."

So the old Crab tried and tried to walk straight forward. But she could walk sideways only, like her son. And when she wanted to turn her toes out she tripped and fell on her nose.

Moral:  Do not tell others how to act unless you can set a good example.

THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE

 A TOWN MOUSE once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch, the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a bit of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manners made it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite.

After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather, the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the grass and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, She gladly said yes.

When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the remains of a very fine banquet. There were candies and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat meow loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog.

The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her  bag and umbrella.

"You may have luxuries  that I do not have," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."

Moral: Poverty with security is better than Plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.

A RAVEN AND A SWAN

A RAVEN, which you know is as black as coal, was envious of the Swan, because her feathers were as white as the purest snow. The foolish bird got the idea that if he lived like the Swan, swimming and diving all day long and eating the weeds and plants that grow in the water, his feathers would turn white like the Swan's.

So he left his home in the woods and fields and flew down to live on the lakes and in the marshes. But athough he washed and washed all day long, almost drowning himself  in the water, his feathers remained as black as before. And because he did not like to eat the water weeds, he got thinner and thinner, and at last he died.

Moral:  A change of habits will not alter nature.

THE ASS AND THE LOAD OF SALT

A MERCHANT, driving his Ass towards home from the seashore with a heavy load of salt, came to a river. They had crossed this river many times before without accident, but this time the Ass slipped and fell  into the river. When the Merchant at last got the Ass on his feet, much of the salt had dissolved away. Delighted to find how much lighter his burden had become, the Ass finished the journey very happily.

The next day the Merchant and the Ass went to get another load of salt. On the way home the Ass, remembering what had happened at the river the previous day, purposely let himself fall into the water, and again got rid of most of his burden.

The angry Merchant immediately turned around and drove the Ass back to the seashore, where he loaded him with two big baskets of sponges. At the river, the Ass again tumbled over; but when he had scrambled to his feet, he was very disappointed to discover that he had to walk all the way home with a load that was ten times heavier than before.

Moral:  Some actions will not be right for all circumstances.