8. Telling a Fable

The fable of the ants and the grasshoppers may be told in different ways.[21] You could tell it as if you were one of the ants. In that case the story might begin in this way:

I am a busy ant. I really have no time to stop to talk with you. But perhaps a few minutes' rest will do me good. Yes, I will tell you about the grasshoppers.

One day last summer I noticed some of these good-for-nothing fellows near the field where I was working. They were sunning themselves by the roadside. They were too lazy to work.

Or you could tell the fable as if you were one of the grasshoppers. Then it would perhaps begin as follows:

I am a grasshopper. I had a hard time last winter. All my companions died then. I think it is wonderful that I am still alive. But my health has been ruined.

You see, last summer we grasshoppers did not feel like doing any work. We thought it was more fun to dance and sing and to laugh at the ants. We thought they were foolish to work so hard.

Oral Exercise. Tell the fable of the ants and the grasshoppers in your own way. As you speak to your classmates, shall you play that you are an ant or a grasshopper?

Group Exercise. As each pupil tells the fable, the class will listen to see whether any important parts have been left out. The class should tell each speaker where he did well and where the fable might have been told better. There is a good way and a poor way of telling a story. Do you not remember the two ways in which Tom told his dream?