Folktale

The story of the cicada and the ant is really popular in France because the tale was rewritten by Jean de La Fontaine. Every French person knows at least one of La Fontaine’s fables which are taught at school. For me, it was the cicada and the ant. In fact, the cicada spent the whole summer singing while the ant worked hard to stock food for the winter. And when winter came, the cicada had nothing to survive and asked the ant some help and food. Yet, the ant refused and sneered at the cicada for her reckless behaviour. As a conclusion, the ant is a wise hard-worker while the cicada is idle and careless which gets her into trouble. Nevertheless, the ant is selfish because she doesn’t want to lend food to the cicada. In fact, in Jean de la Fontaine’s tale, the cicada seems nicer even though she is not as smart as the ant whose smartness prevents her from being in need. (Marine, 2015)