(原版)澳大利亞語文第三冊 LESSON 63
LESSON 63 THE ANT AND THE CRICKET
THE ANT AND THE CRICKET
1. A silly young cricket, accustomed [1] to sing
Through the warm sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain, when he found that at home
His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.
Not a crumb to be found
On the snow-covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree:
Oh, what will become, said the cricket, "of me?"
2. At last, by starvation and famine [2] made bold,
All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly [3] ant,
To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant
Him shelter from rain,
And a mouthful of grain:
He wished only to borrow,
And repay it to-morrow;
If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.
3. Said the ant to the cricket: "I'm your servant and friend;
But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend.
But tell me, dear sir, did you lay nothing by
When the weather was warm?"—Said the cricket: "Not I!
My heart was so light
That I sang day and night,
For all nature looked gay."—
You sang, sir, you say? Go, then, said the ant, "and dance winter away!"
Thus ending, he hastily opened the wicket [4] ,
And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.
4. Though this is a fable [5] , the moral [6] is good:
If you live without work, you will go without food.
* * *
[1] accustomed: Used; often practised.
[2] famine: Lack of food.
[3] miserly: Mean as a miser.
[4] wicket: Door or gate.
[5] fable: Fairy tale.
[6] moral: The lesson to be learned from a story.
