The Ant and the Grasshopper
You are now going to read or listen to a story and try to see if you can identify the story elements. This fable, The Ant and the Grasshopper, will have characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Take your time reading or listening to the story. Read or listen to it twice!
The Ant and the Grasshopper
One summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and working in that way?”
“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.”
“Why bother about winter?” asked the Grasshopper. “We’ve got plenty of food at present.”
But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger while it saw the ants distributing corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
Click the video below to listen to the story.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
In the boxes below, answer the following questions about The Ant and the Grasshopper.
