The Grasshopper and the Ants（蚱蜢与

I’m an artist, and as everyone knows, artists are usually rather poor. Normally, I don’t mind about that. When the sun is shining, I sit on my favourite blade of grass and play music for everyone to listen to. I have lots of friends, and together we’ve formed an orchestra.

我是个艺术家，大家都知道，艺术家通常都挺穷的。一般来说，我倒不介意这点。阳光明媚的时候，我就坐在我最爱的那片草叶上，演奏音乐给大家听。我有很多朋友，我们还组建了一支管弦乐队。

Everyone loves our music and says how cheerful it makes them feel – well almost everyone. There’s a family of ants who never stop to listen. They take themselves far too seriously for music or enjoyment. All they do is work, work, work – even when the sun is shining.

每个人都喜欢我们的音乐，说我们的音乐让他们心情愉悦—— 嗯，几乎每个人都喜欢。有一家蚂蚁，它们从不肯停下来听一听。它们把自己搞得太严肃了，根本无暇享受音乐。它们就知道干活，干活，干活 —— 哪怕阳光灿烂也不例外。

“Hey You Ants,” I said to them. “It’s a lovely summer’s day. Why don’t you rest your feet for a while, and listen to my sweet music?”

“嘿，你们这些蚂蚁，” 我对它们说，“多么美好的夏日啊。你们为什么不停下来歇一会儿，听听我美妙的音乐呢？”

“No time to stop,” one of them said, panting away. “We’re far too busy stocking up food for winter.”

“没时间停下，” 其中一只蚂蚁气喘吁吁地回答，“我们忙着储备过冬的食物呢，实在太忙了。”

The months went by, and the days got shorter and colder. I was shivering so much that I couldn’t even sing. A hard frost was on the ground, and there wasn’t a crumb to eat. I was so hungry! So I went to see that busy family of ants and said: “Please Sirs, I’m a poor starving musician. Spare me a few crumbs from your store of food.”

几个月过去了，白天变得越来越短，天气也越来越冷。我冻得直哆嗦，连歌都唱不了了。地上结了厚厚的霜，我连一点吃的碎屑都找不到，饿极了！于是我去找那忙碌的蚂蚁一家，说：“求求你们了，先生们，我是个可怜的、快饿死的音乐家。能不能从你们储备的食物里，匀给我一点碎屑呢。”

Do you know what? Those ants just turned their noses up at me. They were so stingy that they wouldn’t share any of their food. Oh Well, I’ll just have to go hungry this winter. In the New Year, I’ll make a resolution. When the times are good, I’ll remember to save some food for a rainy day.

你们猜怎么着？那些蚂蚁居然对我嗤之以鼻。它们吝啬极了，一点食物都不肯分给我。唉，看来这个冬天我只能挨饿了。新的一年，我要下定决心。日子好过的时候，我一定记得要存些食物，以备不时之需。