Slide 1 : An Ant And The Cricket Prepared by : Kushashwa Ravi Shrimali
Class : VIII
Roll no. : 811
Summary : Summary Once upon a time... one hot summer, a cricket sang cheerfully on the branch of a tree, while down below, a long line of ants struggled damply under the weight of their load of grains; and between one song and the next, the cricket spoke to the ants. "Why are you working so hard? Come into the shade, away from the sun, and sing a song with me." But the tireless ants went on with the work... "We can't do that," they said, "We must store away food for the winter. When the weather`s cold and the ground white with snow, there's nothing to eat, and we'll survive the winter only if the pantry is full." "There's plenty of summer to come," replied the cricket, "and lots of time to fill the pantry before winter. I'd rather sing! How can anyone work in this heat and sun?"
Summary Contd…. : Summary Contd…. And so all summer, the cricket sang while the ants laboured. But the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Autumn came, the leaves began to fall and the cricket left the bare tree. The grass too was turning yellow. One morning, the cricket woke shivering with cold. An early frost tinged the fields with white and turned the last of the green leaves brown: winter had come at last. The cricket wandered, feeding on the few dry stalks left on the hard frozen ground. Then the snow fell and she could find nothing at all to eat. Trembling and famished, she thought sadly of the warmth and her summer songs. One evening, she saw a speck of light in the distance, and trampling through the thick snow, made her way towards it. "Open the door! Please open the door! I'm starving. Give me some food!" An ant leant out of the window.
Summary contd.. : Summary contd.. "Who's there? Who is it?" "It's me - the cricket. I'm cold and hungry, with no roof over my head." "The cricket? Ah, yes! I remember you. And what were you doing all summer while we were getting ready for winter?" "Me? I was singing and filling the whole earth and sky with my song!" "Singing, eh?" said the ant. "Well, try dancing now!"
Para 1 : Para 1 A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing
Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain, when he found that at home
His cupboard was empty and winter was come.
Para 1 : Para 1 A SILLY young Cricket, who did nothing but sing through the warm sunny months of summer and spring, was sadly surprised when he found that at home his cupboard was empty, and winter had come. Here the poet described his feelings about the lazy cricket in such a beautiful manner that every one would think that it is real.
Para 2 : Para 2 Not a crumb to be found
On the snow-covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree.
Para 2 explanation : Para 2 explanation Not a crumb could be found on the snow-covered ground; not a flower could he see; not a leaf on a tree. The cricket found nothing to enjoy with. He enjoyed in summers and then in winters he was also enjoying but with starvation and hunger .
Para 3 : Para 3 “Oh, what will become,” says the cricket, “of me?”
At last by starvation and famine made bold, All dripping with wet and all trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly ant
To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant
Para 3 explanation : Para 3 explanation "Oh, what will become," said the Cricket, "of me?” At last the poor Cricket, by hunger made bold, all dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold, to the house of an Ant went begging for food.
Para 4 : Para 4 Him shelter from rain.
A mouthful of grain
He wished only to borrow,
He’d repay it to-morrow;
If not helped, he must die of starvation and sorrow.
Para 4 explanation : Para 4 explanation "Dear Ant," he began, "will you not be so good as to help a poor fellow, who has nothing to eat? I want a coat for my back, and shoes for my feet, a shelter from the rain, and a mouthful of grain. I wish only to borrow, I will pay you to-morrow—without them I must die of hunger and sorrow."
Para 5 : Para 5 Says the ant to the cricket: “I’m your servant and friend,
But we ants never borrow, we ants never lend.
Pray tell me, dear sir, did you lay nothing by
When the weather was warm?” Said the cricket, “Not I.”
Para 5 explanation : Para 5 explanation Said the Ant to the Cricket, "Do you know, my good friend, that we Ants never borrow, we Ants never lend? But tell me, I pray, did you lay nothing by when the weather was warm?"
Said the Cricket, "Not I! My heart was so light that I sang day and night, for all things looked gay."
Para 6 : Para 6 My heart was so light
That I sang day and night,
For all nature looked gay.
“You sang, sir, you say?”
Go then,” said the ant, “and sing winter away.”
Para 6 explanation : Para 6 explanation Said the Cricket, "Not I! My heart was so light that I sang day and night, for all things looked gay."
"You sang, sir, you say? Go then," said the Ant, "and dance winter away."
Para 7 : Para 7 Thus ending, he hastily lifted the wicket And out of the door turned the poor little cricket. Though this is a fable, the moral is good— If you live without work, you must live without food.
Slide 18 :