THE FLY AND THE ANT.
A fly and an ant came to words as to which stood first in rank. The fly said, “How can you place your mean state by the side of mine? Look how I soar up in the air, skip round the head of a king, and kiss the lips of a queen! I toil not, nor stoop to work, but live a life of ease. What is there you can have to say to this?” “Why,” quoth the ant, in a sharp tone, “to be made much of by kings and queens is a great thing, I grant, if they send for you, but not if they deem you a pest. In good sooth, I think it is but your small size that screens you from their wrath; and as to work, you will learn the use of it when the frost and snow pinch, and the cold winds blow, while I shall reap the fruits of my toil. To be free with you, I think you will find no pains, no gains.”
One tale is good, till the next is told.
THE FLY AND THE ANT.