Unit 1: Poem – The Ant and the Cricket

The cricket said the line, “Oh! what will become of me?” when he found out that winter had arrived, but his cupboard was empty. He could not find a single crumb on the snow-covered ground, nor could he see a flower or a leaf on the tree. He thought that as it was getting cold and he had nothing to eat in order to survive, he would die of starvation very soon.

1. The line from the poem that means the same as “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” was “But we ants never borrow; we ants never lend.”
2. From the ant’s principle, we learn that we should save enough for the future so that we might not need to borrow or lend from anyone in times of need. We should toil hard when the sun shines and make the best utilisation of time and available resources.

When the ant told the cricket to “dance the winter away”, she meant the cricket didn’t utilise his precious time and the available resources during summer to save up enough for the cold season. He was making merry and dancing  when the sun was shining bright. Therefore, when the ant mentions the word ‘dance’, she means that the cricket should try to dance and sing in the winter just as he did during the summer and not bother her by asking for food and shelter. Hence, the word ‘dance’ in context is associated with the irresponsible and careless nature of the cricket who made merry when the sun shone bright, but didn’t save adequate food to survive in the winter season.

1. The lines in the poem that express the poet’s comment are, “Folks call this a fable. I’ll warrant it true”.
2. The above comment, as mentioned by the poet in the poem, is a fable which has a moral behind it. In this story, the cricket is the one who has a very carefree nature and believes in making merry and dancing when the sun is shining bright during the summer season. He was so engrossed with dancing and singing that he didn’t save anything for the cold season. On the other hand, the ant used to toil hard every day during the summer and saved enough grains for the future so that she has enough food stock to survive the freezing cold winter season. Hence, the moral of the story is that we should always be prepared to work hard and ready to face adverse situations as and when they arise. Otherwise, our condition would become like the cricket who didn’t save enough for a secure future.