It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

 One summer's day, a merry Grasshopper was dancing, singing and playing his violin with all his heart. He saw an Ant passing by, bearing along with great toil a wheatear to store for the winter.

 “Come and sing with me instead of working so hard”, said the Grasshopper “Let’s have fun together.”

 “I must store food for the winter”, said the Ant, “and I advise you to do the same.”

 “Don’t worry about winter, it’s still very far away”, said the Grasshopper, laughing at him. But the Ant wouldn’t listen and continued his toil.

 When the winter came, the starving Grasshopper went to the Ant’s house and humbly begged for something to eat.

 “If you had listened to my advice in the summer you would not now be in need,” said the Ant. “I’m afraid you will have to go supperless to bed,” and he closed the door.

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

 

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

 One day, an Ass found a Lion's skin left in the forest by a hunter, and wishing to amuse himself and to feel powerful, put it on, scaring all the animals he met on his way. He was very proud of himself and felt like a real king. But in his delight, he opened his mouth and brayed in triumph.

 The moment he heard the Ass’s voice, a Fox who was running frightened as well, stopped suddenly and began to laugh. Approaching the Ass, he exclaimed:

 “You could have fooled me, too, had I not heard your bray.”

 

Fine clothes may disguise a fool, but silly words will give him away.

The Fox and the Crow

 A Crow, having stolen a bit of meat, sat in a tree and held it in her beak. A hungry Fox, seeing this, envied the crow and wished to have the meat for himself. So he came up with a cunning plan.

 “How gracious you are,” he exclaimed, “how beautifully your feathers shine! Oh, if only your voice were equal to your beauty, you would deserve to be called the Queen of Birds!”

 The Crow was really flattered by these words, so, anxious to be called the Queen of Birds, she gave a loud caw and dropped the meat. The Fox quickly picked it up, and thus addressed the Crow:

 “My dear Crow, you have a nice voice, indeed, but I’m afraid you have no wits.”

Do not trust flatterers.

Misfortune reveals the true nature of friends.

The Stag at the River

A Stag, very thirsty because of the heat, came to a river in a forest to drink some water. He saw his shadow reflected in the water, and greatly admired the size of his horns, but felt ashamed of his weak and thin legs.

 “I wish my legs were as beautiful as my horns,” he sobbed.

 While he was lost in these thoughts, a Lion appeared at the river. The Stag fled from the river in an instant, but his horns soon became entangled with the branches and he found himself stuck.

 The Lion quickly caught up with him and captured him.

 “How wrong I was to despise my legs which could have saved me now, had it not been for my horns which I so admired!” he cried.

The Hare and the Tortoise

 A hare, one day, mocked the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied:

 “As swift as you may be, I will beat you in a race.”

 The Hare took this as a joke and agreed with the proposal, just for fun. On the day appointed for the race the two started together.

 The Tortoise didn’t stop or even slow down once, but went on with a steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, thinking he had time enough, took a nap under a tree. At last, waking up and running as fast as he could, he tried to catch up with the tortoise, but it was too late. The tortoise had already won the race!

The Fox and the Grapes

One hot summer's day a hungry Fox saw some clusters of ripe grapes hanging from a vine. But the vine on which the grapes hung was too high for him to reach.

 Drawing back a few steps, he took a running leap at it, but he missed the bunch. Again and again he tried, but in vain. At last, he had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying, "They must be sour."

 

The Ant and the Dove

 An Ant went to the river to quench his thirst, but the rush of the water carried him away and the Ant was now struggling to save his life. A Dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water, seeing him, immediately took a bough, and let it fall close to the Ant, so that he could climb on it. The Ant was thus saved from drowning.

 A few days later, a hunter came and pointed the gun at the Dove who was sitting in the same tree. The Ant happened to be nearby and, perceiving the hunter’s intentions, stung him in the foot. The pain made the hunter miss his aim, while the shot startled the Dove and made her fly away.

 

The Dog and His Reflection

 A Dog, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own reflection in the water. Thinking it was another dog with a bigger piece of meat, he growled and frowned at it, wishing to have that morsel, too.

 He, then, opened his mouth to get the other piece of meat, but at that moment, his own fell into the water with a splash and the stream swept it away. He thus lost both.

The Peacock and the Crane

There was once a very conceited Peacock who had a gorgeous tail like no other bird. So, when he met a Crane one day, the Peacock scoffed at the Crane’s colorless and dull feathers, and immediately spread his own colorful tail for the Crane to see and admire.

 “Look at my feathers,” he boasted, how they shine in all the colors of the rainbow, while yours are so pale! I am dressed like a king!”

 “That’s true,” the Crane answered, “but I can fly high above, among the clouds and the stars and I can see all the beauty of the earth in all its glory, while you live down here just like any other cock.”

The Hares and the Frogs

  The Hares, persecuted by the other beasts and afraid even of their own shadows, had a council to decide what to do. The conclusion they came to was to die rather than live on with this shame. So, they went to a pond, determined to drown themselves.

 But when they were just about to jump, some Frogs who had been sitting on a water lily, startled by the noise they made, rushed to the deep water for safety.

 “Look,” cried a Hare, “there are creatures who are even afraid of us, so things are not so bad, after all. We don’t need to die any more.”

The Ant and the Grasshopper

 One summer's day, a merry Grasshopper was dancing, singing and playing his violin with all his heart. He saw an Ant passing by, bearing along with great toil a wheatear to store for the winter.

 “Come and sing with me instead of working so hard”, said the Grasshopper “Let’s have fun together.”

 “I must store food for the winter”, said the Ant, “and I advise you to do the same.”

 “Don’t worry about winter, it’s still very far away”, said the Grasshopper, laughing at him. But the Ant wouldn’t listen and continued his toil.

 When the winter came, the starving Grasshopper went to the Ant’s house and humbly begged for something to eat.

 “If you had listened to my advice in the summer you would not now be in need,” said the Ant. “I’m afraid you will have to go supperless to bed,” and he closed the door.

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

 

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

 One day, an Ass found a Lion's skin left in the forest by a hunter, and wishing to amuse himself and to feel powerful, put it on, scaring all the animals he met on his way. He was very proud of himself and felt like a real king. But in his delight, he opened his mouth and brayed in triumph.

 The moment he heard the Ass’s voice, a Fox who was running frightened as well, stopped suddenly and began to laugh. Approaching the Ass, he exclaimed:

 “You could have fooled me, too, had I not heard your bray.”