The Grasshopper and the Bees

It was wintertime, and a grasshopper came to the beehive, begging for help. "Please let me share in the warmth of the hive and eat some of your honey," said the grasshopper.
"Why should we do that?" asked the bees.
"Well," said the grasshopper, "I can play music for you, and I can teach your children how to make music too."
"There's no point in that," said the bees, who were hardhearted creatures indeed. "We teach our children to be like ourselves: they will earn their living with their hard work, a lesson that apparently you never learned."

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Inspired by: Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists by Roger L'Estrange, 345.
Notes: This fable is not part of the classical Aesop tradition; find out more here.


Here is an illustration by Bewick: