The Ant and the Dove
retold by Sara Huber
"Lily? Are you
tired?" Abby asked her sister.
"No, not really. Are you?" Lily
replied.
"My eyes aren't tired, but my wings
sure are! I wonder how much longer it is going to take us to get where
we're going," Abby said.
"Just a few more days I think.
Don't you pay attention to anything they tell us?" Lily asked,
referring to her parents.
"Yes! I listen to them. It's just
that sometimes what they say goes in one ear and right out the other!
Listen, I am starving. Are you hungry? Let's go try to get a midnight
snack before we go to sleep. I think I saw some red flowers right
around
here somewhere. Come on!" replied Abby as she fluttered out of the
makeshift nest the two sisters were sharing for the night. They
cautiously looked over to the nest next to theirs where their parents
slept. The coast was clear!
********************
"Cooooooooh..ooooooooooh.ooh.ooh."
"Lily, what's that noise?" shrieked
Abby to her sister. Even though she was the most adventurous one, she
still got a little scared here and there.
"I don't know! Maybe we should go
back? Can't your stomach wait until morning?" Lily asked while trying
to decipher where the strange call was coming from. "Do you think that
might be a bird, Abby?"
"Cooooooooh..ooooooooooh.ooh.ooh."
"There it is again! Let's go see
who it is. It sounds so pretty, doesn't it? Whoever it is must be as
nice as the crow we just met," answered Abby, feeling a little bit
braver.
The two girls slowly flew towards
the melancholy-sounding song. Just as they reached the red flowers Abby
had remembered seeing, they heard it again.
"Coooooooooh.ooooooooooh.ooh.ooh."
Abby and Lily looked down and saw a
little gray bird hobbling along the ground.
"Hi!" yelled down Abby.
"Oh. Hi there," answered the bird.
"I don't mean to be rude, "replied
Abby, "but what kind of bird are you?"
"I'm a mourning dove. Haven't you
ever see a mourning dove before, love?" answered the dove.
"No, we haven't really seen too
many different birds before. This is our first time migrating! We met a
crow a few days ago. We loved him!" answered Lily.
"Yes, crows can be nice. That is,
if
you meet the right one. Some are downright wretched. Say, what are
you girls doing up at night? I don't know much about hummingbirds, but
shouldn't you be asleep at this hour?" replied the dove.
"Well, yes. But we're
hungry!"
answered Lily. "We've been flying all day and our hunger just got the
best of us. We're thinking of snacking on those red flowers right
there. Would you
like to join us?
"No, no, dear. I don't eat nectar.
I eat seeds and berries. I used
to eat bugs, but not anymore. They are tasty though!" answered the dove.
"If they are so tasty, why don't
you
eat them anymore?" asked Abby.
"Well, girls, I met this ant once,
and he changed my life! I was just walking around this small puddle one
day, trying to find the best way to get a drink, you see. As I looked
closer in the water I saw this tiny ant drowning right in the
middle of the puddle. I just don't know what came over me. Usually I
would have gobbled him right up, but this time it was different. I felt
so bad for him, watching him struggle and all. I reached over and
ripped out a blade of grass and put it right through the puddle. He
managed to climb on top of it and then I pulled the blade out of the
water and set it aside."
"Dove! How sweet of you!"
interrupted Lily.
"Yes, thank you. He thought the
same. He said he would make it up to me one day. I sure didn't have to
wait long. You see, just the very next day when I was out looking for
food he saved my life! Little did I know that a hunter was sneaking up
on me. This little ant watched and waited for the perfect moment, and
just when the hunter was about to shoot, he crawled up on the man's
ankle and bit him with all his might! The hunter reached down and
slapped his ankle and the gun fired a little to the right of me. Maybe
the left. Oh, it doesn't matter. I was saved!"
"So this is why you
don't
eat
ants?" asked Lily.
"Yes, dear, you've got it. How
could I when one saved my life? Such a small little creature...I wonder
what happened to him," she sadly finished.
"Don't be sad," said Abby. "I'm
sure he's around here somewhere."
"I know. Actually, I was looking
for him when you two showed up. Why don't you go and eat from your
flowers? I'm going to keep looking for him. And say, good luck with the
migrating, dears. Maybe I'll see you at the end of the season on your
way back!" said the dove as she turned to leave.
*****************
Later, as the sisters tried to fall
asleep, Abby couldn't stop thinking about the dove and the ant.
"Lily? Wasn't that a sad story she
told us? I hope she finds him again. Don't you?"
"Yes, of course I do! Don't worry
about them. Everything will work out, but we have really got to go to
sleep. Now!"
Author's Note
I have chosen to retell this
story because I like that it is a fable that focuses on the good
behavior of an individual. Plus I really like ants and find myself
doing exactly what the dove in this story does. The original version is
very short, so I embellished my version with the dove's interpretation.
I have kept the plot of the story between the dove and ant the same,
but I have added in the bit about her missing him and wishing to see
him again. I also tried to make the frame with Abby and Lily a little
bit longer to compensate for the short fable.
I
had a Dove and the Sweet Dove Died
I had a dove, and the sweet
dove died;
And I have thought it died of
grieving:
O, what could it grieve for?
its feet were tied With a
single thread of myown hand's weaving;
Sweet little red feet, why
should you die--
Why should you leave me,
sweet bird, why?
You lived alone in the forest
tree,
Why, pretty thing! would you
not live with me?
I kiss'd you oft and gave you
white peas;
Why not live sweetly, as in
the green trees?
Bioliography
Imformation:
"The
Ant and the Dove" from "Aesop for Children" by Aesop 1919/2006 Webpage Link
"I had a Dove and the Sweet
Dove DIed" by John Keats Webpage Link
Image Information:
"Walking Ants" by unknown Webpage Link
"Mourning Dove" by Kevin
Karlson Webpage
Link
"Rofous Hummingbird" by
Jonathan Rodgers Webpage Link
"Costa's Hummingbird" by Jon
Sullivan Webpage Link
"Pochoir Print" by E.A. Seguy
Webpage Link
"Ants and Flowers" by Unknown
Webpage
Link
