La Fontaine: A play in two acts
Schools and non-profit organisations are free to use this in their curriculums.
Dramatis Personae
Ant, Grasshopper
Act One
Scene One. A clearing in the forest
Ant hectoring to Grasshopper
My friend grasshopper, all summer long
You made merry and indulged in music and song
So of course you found yourself much deprived
When the cold winter winds arrived.
You found not a strand of herblet
Not the teeniest tick, not the weest wormlet
And came to me, to wit your humble servant the Ant
For succour, begging me to ease your want
Appealing for a wee loan
Of millet, barley or corn
To keep at bay hunger and starvation
Until, you say, cometh the new season.
You swore that after the harvest
You’ll pay it all back and with interest.
It’s not that by nature I’m not a lender
The good lord knows there’s no one kinder
But as He is my witness I aver
I’d be doing you no great favour
Helping you in the short term
For your own good I must be firm
So you learn to paddle your own canoe
To ensure this situation never rises anew.
Tell me my good merry-maker
What were you doing the whole of summer
When Good Mother Nature
Was working harder and harder
To provide every single one of God’s creature
With the means to fill our larder?
Remember, I quote what you said? Day and night
I was singing lustily with all my might.
Now- only to teach you a lesson-
And for no other malicious reason
You who sang with gusto and nonchalance
Hear me, the time’s now come to dance.
Act Two
Scene One. Clearing as in Act 1 Sc 1.
Grasshopper
At first I took the rebuke in bad part
And could do nought to lift my broken heart
But soon realised the Ant meant well
Her advice was timely and sound as a bell
She could not have spoken more true
A sincere mentor, a real guru.
I looked everywhere in the woods but found no food
And well knew that nobody would
Come to my rescue, that I should
Do something else, and by chance
I recalled her wise words: Now dance.
The sun high in the sky was scarcely shining
Then the wind in the trees began singing
The song of Mellow Autumn, at first sad and doleful
But the sun began to shine merry and cheerful
And the leaves on the trees
Began swaying in the breeze
At first gently and serene-
A modest idyllic little scene
But as the force of the wind rose
So the tempo of the dance grows.
Soon some leaves pull away in a frenzy
From the branches and turn into confetti
Some are dark crimson, some orange or yellow
Floating little bits of rainbow
Rolling and floating like a murmurration
Performing rhythmic gyrations.
And tardy little creatures still around
Inspired by the splendid sights and nature’s sound
Join in this sabbath of fun and merry-making
And as the Ant had advised dancing
Though hungry I joined in this carnival
And a nightingale brought me half a weevil
And soon like magic it was a music festival
With unlimited nectar and sap now on tap.
Ant was so right, dancing is the remedy
For all ills and every malady.
But soft, what have here?
Can’t be my mentor the dear…
Scene Two. Another part of the clearing
Dark area of stage gradually becomes lit, and Grasshopper approaches a bundle which is revealed to be the corpse of Ant.
It’s the corpse of my guru the kindly Ant
As she was a hard worker she was never in want
But though her larder was full to the brim
She was not equipped to deal with the grim
Turnaround following the end of summer
When beasts men and nature become glummer
Although she advised me to dance and revel
She gave not herself the same counsel
Resulting in her sinking into melancholy
Losing appetite vim and vitality
Now entirely devoid of joie de vivre
She finally succumbed to a fever
Clearly all could see the die was cast
And indeed one sad day she breathed her last.
The above was a free adaptation of the original below:
La Cigale et la fourmi
Jean de La Fontaine
La Cigale, ayant chanté
Tout l’été,
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue :
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau.
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la Fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu’à la saison nouvelle.
“Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,
Avant l’Oût, foi d’animal,
Intérêt et principal. “
La Fourmi n’est pas prêteuse :
C’est là son moindre défaut.
Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud ?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.
Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.
Vous chantiez ? j’en suis fort aise.
Eh bien! dansez maintenant.
Suite et fin
Anon
Inspirée par ce conseil,
La Cigale,
Heureuse et joyeuse, dansa,
Puis chanta dans le soleil.
Sa liesse alentour berça
Insectes et fleurs du maquis.
Ce bonheur, tous, les conquit.
Du chant, elle tissait du rêve,
Et de sa danse, du sourire.
A notre Cigale ils offrirent
Festin de nectars et sèves
La fourmi, docte économe,
Travaillant comme bête de somme,
Tomba gravement malade.
Un jour, on la trouva roide.
Sans été, ni chant, ni vers,
Sa vie ne fut qu’un hiver.
