Aesop's Fables

Moral:
Be Prepared

Aesop's Moral:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Other ways of saying it:
Be prepared.
Prepare for the inevitable.
Back up your computer already!

Aesop's Fable:

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, struggling to drag an ear of corn to the nest.

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"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of working so hard?"

"I am helping to save food for the winter," said the Ant, "and suggest you do the same."

"Why worry about winter?" said the Grasshopper; “We have plenty of food right now."

But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from what they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Comment: Tellings of this fable seem to change with the times. Older tellings feature the grasshopper simply dying, while more modern ones often have the ants feeding him in his time of need.

How's this for a modern "Be prepared" self-test? Do you back up your computer? If you do, you're the ant.

If not, you're the grasshopper.

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