The Ant and the Grasshopper
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
While industrious ants spend the summer storing food, a carefree grasshopper spends his days making music instead — a choice that catches up with him when winter comes.
One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer.
Un luminoso día de finales del otoño, una familia de Hormigas se afanaba bajo el cálido sol, secando el grano que habían almacenado durante el verano.
A starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
Un Saltamontes hambriento, con su violín bajo el brazo, se acercó y humildemente pidió algo de comer.
"What!" cried the Ants in surprise. "Haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?"
«¡Cómo!», exclamaron las Hormigas sorprendidas. «¿No guardaste nada para el invierno? ¿Qué diablos estuviste haciendo todo el verano pasado?»
"I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper. "I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone."
«No tuve tiempo de guardar comida», se quejó el Saltamontes. «Estaba tan ocupado haciendo música que, antes de darme cuenta, el verano había terminado».
The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.
Las Hormigas se encogieron de hombros con desdén.
"Making music, were you?" they said. "Very well, now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.
«Conque haciendo música, ¿eh?», dijeron. «Muy bien, ¡ahora baila!». Y le dieron la espalda al Saltamontes y siguieron con su trabajo.
There is a time for work and a time for play.
Hay un tiempo para el trabajo y un tiempo para el juego.
