It was summer time and most of the ants in Ant City were collecting food.
But Lazy Ant was lying on his back on top of a rock basking in the sun.
As Lazy Ant’s mother and sisters were busy collecting food, he just glanced at them, whistling and waiting for them to finish.
But when it was time to eat, Lazy Ant would suddenly jump up.
Lazy Ant always complained when he was given work to do. In fact, he was so lazy that he would even cry!
Instead of working, Lazy Ant would chat non-stop, and so when it was time to go home, his work was left unfinished.
One day, Lazy Ant’s mother found him sitting on a rock as usual.
His mother was angry and she punished him.
Then she told him to quickly fill a sack with food. Lazy Ant grumbled as he began working.
He knew that he would not be getting any food if he didn’t work.
By the end of that day, Lazy Ant’s sack was full.
His mother was very happy to see that her son had worked so hard.
Lazy Ant’s mother prepared a special meal for supper to reward her son. He enjoyed the meal along with the other ants who had worked hard all day.
The next morning, Lazy Ant was the first one to wake up and he prepared breakfast for his mother.
All the other ants were shocked by the change in Lazy Ant’s behaviour. He went up and down offering help to any ant who needed it.
The elders of Ant City even celebrated the change in Lazy Ant’s behaviour with him.
And from that day, Lazy Ant saw the importance of working together with others.
Working together creates peace, joy and harmony.
Credits
Originally published by Book Dash under a Creative Commons Licensed BY 4.0. This book can be read for free on https://bookdash.org/books/the-lazy-ant and was created by: Senzo Xulu (Designer), Unathi Dyani (Illustrator), Linda Nelani (Editor), Cebo Solombela (Writer)
