Abundance

Once upon a time, a grasshopper lived in a pleasant meadow. She had what she needed: grass to eat, leaves to cover her head in the rain, and a fiddle she could play to share her heart with the meadow.

One bright day, some ants came to her meadow. They scurried this way and that, cutting some leaves and scurrying off to who-knows-where. Grasshopper admired their energy and played a suitable tune, wondering what they were up to.

The next day, more ants came, and the next, even more. They scurried and gathered until one day, grasshopper went to eat lunch at her favorite patch of grass and it was gone.

With her fiddle under her arm, she went to the ants and humbly begged for a bite to eat.

\”What?\” cried the ants in surprise. \”Haven\’t you stored anything away?\”

The grasshopper looked at her fiddle and said, \”Stored…? I was making music, and before I knew it, the food was gone!\”

\”Making music, were you?\” the ants cried. \”Very well, now dance!\” And they went on with their work.

One ant turned and said, \”There\’s a time for work and a time for play, grasshopper.\”

And the grasshopper knew that she meant that the time for play had passed.

For the original, see Aesop\’s fable.