A1 Reading Plan · Week 1 · Day 4 of 30

The Ant and the Grasshopper

From Aesop's Fables·~200 words·~2 min read

The ant works all summer. The grasshopper sings. Then winter comes and only one of them eats.

0:00 / 0:00Speed

BetaAudio read-along is new — we’re still fine-tuning the word-by-word timing, so a word may drift now and then.

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.

Words light up as they are read aloud. Tap any word in the story to add it to your vocabulary.

Finished? Do the quick check.A few short questions on the story. A minute now is what makes the words and ideas actually stick.Take the quiz ↓
Quick check

Pass it to add Day 4 to your shelf

5 questions · pass 4 of 5. Scroll up to re-read the story any time.

Question 1 of 5vocabulary
What does 'damp' mean in the story?
Question 2 of 5vocabulary
What does 'starving' mean in the story?
Question 3 of 5vocabulary
What does 'spare' mean when the Grasshopper begs them to 'spare her a few grains'?
Question 4 of 5comprehension
What did the Grasshopper do all summer?
Question 5 of 5comprehension
Why were the Ants busy in winter?
0 of 5 answered
Next story →
The Lion and the Mouse
Enjoying the stories?

Get the next shelf of stories

Leave your email and we will let you know the moment we add a new shelf. You will also save your progress and vocabulary across devices.

Source: V. S. Vernon Jones translation, public domain. Provided by Project Gutenberg.