Prompt: The Moral of the Story

(editorial comment that I just can't resist: ugh)

The moral of the story always seems so appropos, but after some consideration, it occurred to this writer, to wonder, what came first, the tale or its moral?

Aesop, to use as an example one of your better known works, did you observe an ant and a grasshopper conversing and, if so, did you overhear the greener of the two lament his days of leisure as his companion dryly replied, "I told you so"? I'm further pondering if these characters may have been stand-ins for a pair of offspring -- yours, perhaps? Or possibly a duo in your employ? Either way, the ant always comes out rosier than that philandering grasshopper of a companion.

Personally, I see the ant in a more anhedonic light. To what kind of existence does this fellow subscribe? A twenty four seven contract, carrying ten, twenty times his weight over distances immeasurable. If he's lucky, he may encounter a picnic on his route. I can envision a bright red checked cloth being traversed, a potato salad freshly peppered with which he most likely will abscond. But even in the midst of this lovely fodder for the senses, I see him slavishly trudging, thorax swayed by his load, back to that hive teeming with identical drones who most likely will never even as much as sample the fruits of their labor.

But the grasshopper, he can go hither and yon, wherever holds the most promise. Is that music in the distance? A pinkish light in which to bask? And don't forget, he's built for nimbly leaping tall obstacles in a single bound not hoisting a load or trudging through the back of beyond with aforementioned load securely balanced upon his graceful shoulders. Considering his anatomical geometry, I think it's safe to say it would be downright fantasy to see a line of his cohort hauling a basket full of drumsticks across a lawn.

In conclusion, I would like to offer you the opportunity to craft a new tale of the grasshopper and his friend the ant, one built backwards, from its moral, a moral with which I hope to inspire your yarn-spinning muse:

Wouldn't you rather be a jumper for joy than a shlepper of shlock?