Page:Stories and story-telling (1915).djvu/290

 summer and autumn she did nothing but sing from morning till night. So when winter came and the snow covered the ground, she hadn't a morsel of food stored away in her house.

Soon she was so faint with hunger that she begged her neighbor, the ant, to give her something to eat. "I am starving," she said; "give me a grain of wheat."

"Why did you not save some grain at harvest time?" asked the ant. "There was plenty to be had. What were you doing?"

"I was singing," answered the grasshopper. "I had no time for work."

"Hoity toity!" cried the ant; "if you sang all summer you must dance hungry to bed in winter."

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THE DONKEY AND THE MULE

A donkey and a mule set out with their master on a long journey. Each animal carried a load.

As he climbed the steep path up a mountain the donkey felt his load heavier than he could bear. He begged the mule to help him. "Help me, brother," he cried, "or I shall drop." But the mule pretended not to hear. After struggling along a little farther the poor donkey fell dead.

The master now placed the donkey's load on the mule, giving him two loads to carry. And on top of both he piled the donkey.