One fine winter day, some ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had grown damp after a long spell of rain. Presently, a grasshopper came up and begged them for 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," they said, "what you were doing 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.