The Ant and The Grasshopper

Illustration by Milo White (1888 - 1956), an American illustrator. In the public domain. He has made the ants plural--a collective, rather than a single individual.

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La Fontaine is one of my favorite French authors. I have tried at various times, unsuccessfully, to translate several of his fables. To create this version, I borrowed shamelessly from previous versions. 

The Grasshopper and the Ant
by Jean de la Fontaine

​    The Grasshopper kept fiddling
As summer light was dwindling.
When the North Wind blew,
She hadn’t a scrap to chew,
Not a bite of grub, no fly
To bake into a pie.

    So she went complaining,
To the Ant, of famine,
And begged a cup of grain
To keep flesh on her bone
Till harvest home.
“When the crop comes in,
I’ll pay you back,” she claimed,
“On my word as animal,
Interest and principal.”

    The Ant was not a lender—that
Was her smallest fault. “So what
Did you do all summer?”
She asked the Grasshopper.

    “Night and day, for every comer
I fiddled without stopping.
That’s why I love grasshopping.”

    “You fiddled? I don’t give a fig.
Now you can dance a jig.” 

Posted 2 July 2024. Please send comments to [email protected]