English Original
There was once an ant that was very thirsty.
It ran here and there looking for some water but could not find any.
Then suddenly, when the ant was almost ready to die of thirst, a large drop of water fell on it. The ant drank the water, which saved its life.
The water was actually a tear from a young girl who was crying. The ant looked up and saw the young girl sitting in front of a huge pile of seeds.
"Why are you sad?" asked the ant.
"I'm the prisoner of a giant," the girl told the ant. "He won't let me go until I've made three separate heaps of grain, barley, and rye out of this huge pile of seeds in which they are all mixed together."
"That will take you a month!" the ant said, looking at the huge pile of seeds.
"I know," the girl cried, "and if I haven't finished by tomorrow, the giant will eat me for his supper!"
"Don't cry," the ant said, "my friends and I will help you."
Soon thousands of ants were at work, separating the three kinds of seeds.
The next morning, when the giant saw that the work had been done, he let the girl go.
And thus it was that one of her tears saved her life.
中文翻译
从前，有一只非常口渴的蚂蚁。
它到处跑来跑去找水喝，却怎么也找不到。
就在蚂蚁快要渴死的时候，突然一大滴水落在了它身上。蚂蚁喝了这滴水，保住了性命。
这滴水实际上是一个正在哭泣的年轻女孩的眼泪。蚂蚁抬起头，看见女孩正坐在一大堆种子前。
“你为什么伤心？”蚂蚁问道。
“我是一个巨人的囚犯，”女孩告诉蚂蚁，“这大堆种子里混着谷物、大麦和黑麦的种子，我必须把它们分开，拣成三堆，巨人才肯放我走。”
“那得花你一个月时间！”蚂蚁看着那堆巨大的种子说道。
“我知道，”女孩哭着说，“如果我明天还没分完，巨人就会把我当晚餐吃掉！”
“别哭，”蚂蚁说，“我和我的朋友们会帮你的。”
很快，成千上万只蚂蚁开始工作，分离这三种种子。
第二天早上，巨人看到工作完成了，便放走了女孩。
就这样，她的一滴眼泪救了她自己的性命。