The Ant and the GrasshopperIllustrated by Scott Roberto

In a field 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 effort an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

                                                                            

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and struggling 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?" said the Grasshopper. “We have plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its work. When the winter came the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger while the ants distributed, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.                                

What lesson did this fable teach us about how we should live?

Then the Grasshopper knew...

Aesop’s FablesLessons In Living From

Little Stories

Who was Aesop?• Aesop was a slave who lived in ancient Greece

about 600 BC. Some think he may have been from Africa originally.

• Aesop’s stories were told orally. Socrates later recorded them in writing.

• It is thought that Aesop was thrown off a cliff for insulting people of Delphi with a fable.

• Aesop’s fables most often use animals to illustrate his lesson.

The Bundle of SticksIllustrated by Michael Chan

A father had three sons who were constantly arguing with each other. When he failed to stop their disputes, he was determined to give them a lesson on the evils of fighting. For this purpose, he told them to bring him a bundle of sticks.

When they had done so, he tied the sticks into a bundle and placed the bundle into the hands of each son, one son at a time. He ordered each one to break the bundle into pieces. Each son tried with all his strength, and none was able to do it.

Next, the father opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again gave them to his sons. “Try to break the sticks now,” he told them. Each son took individual sticks and broke them easily.

He then addressed them: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and work together, you will be strong as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."

One afternoon a fox was walking through

the forest and spotted a bunch of

grapes hanging from over a lofty

branch."Just the thing to quench my thirst,"

said he.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes.

Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach

them but still

failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox

turned up his nose and said,

"They're probably sour anyway," and proceeded to walk away.

The Jay and the Peacock

Once there was a little jay-bird who discovered some peacock feathers lost by the beautiful peacocks during moulting. He had always wanted to be a peacock so he attached the feathers to his own tail and strutted proudly by a gathering of the lovely birds.

The peacocks were not impressed with

the jay’s efforts to be as lovely as they so they removed the false feathers and

sent him on his way.

The blue jay returned to his own flock and discovered they had been watching him. “Foolish bird,” they said. “It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.”

Use these websites to read more of Aesop’s fables and advice for living!

www.umas.edu/aesop/www.aesopfables.com

www.eddery.com

1. Read and select a fable of your choice. (Don’t pick one we read or discussed in class with the PowerPoint.

2. Write down the moral or lesson taught in this story.

3. In 1-2 paragraphs, RETEACH this same lesson to modern-day people. Use the same the moral but use different characters, plot, and setting to tell the story in modern-day language.