Aesop
Hopper and the Ants
I have always disliked the traditional moral of the fable "Grasshopper and the Ants". The grasshopper had his role just as the ants had their role, but in the ants' world everyone had to be the same. I wrote this humble poem to honor the grasshopper (which is actually a cicada in the original version).
Hopper is humming a tune while the the ants start their day.
Hello, he says. Am I in the way?
Hello, Hopper. You’re still in bed?
I’m thinking. Have song in my head.
Humph! Thinking! The ants turned away.
Life is hard work and all you do is play.
They toiled all summer in the anthill they made
While Hopper instead sat back in the shade.
I’ve got it! He cried. I’ve got my song. Please let me in, it isn’t long.
But the ants had rules, and rules were rules.
Go away! they said, don’t take us for fools.
You should have learned to obey.
The winter was cold with ice on the ground
But the ants in their anthill were safe and sound.
Not a care did they have for poor Hopper outside.
It wasn’t their problem, he didn’t provide.
Homeless Hopper died in the snow.
Did his song survive? We’ll never know.
When the snow had melted and the ice was gone
Something was missing. Something was wrong.
The ants worked and worked the whole summer long
Wishing they’d listened to old Hopper’s song
And once they were settled, towards the end of fall
An anteater came and ate them all.
A society that rejects cultural differences and does not mentor the arts is doomed.
