A Dove saw an Ant fall into a brook. The Ant struggled in vain to reach the bank, and in pity, the Dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it.
Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar, the Ant floated safely to shore.
The Ant and the Dove," illustrated by Milo Winter, from “The Aesop for Children,” 1919. PD-US
Soon after, the Ant saw a man getting ready to kill the Dove with a stone.
But just as he cast the stone, the Ant stung him in the heel, so that the pain made him miss his aim, and the startled Dove flew to safety in a distant wood.
A kindness is never wasted.
This fable is reproduced from “The Aesop for Children” (1919).Aesop (c. 620–564 B.C.) was a Greek storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as “Aesop’s Fables.” His tales, with their moral value, have long influenced our culture and civilization, contributing not only to the education and moral character building of children, but also, with their universal appeal, to the self-reflection of adults alike who have chosen to embrace the virtues or heed the warnings within.
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