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39Aesop's Fables  

The Ant and the Dove

By Kate Stonham

It was another hot, dry day in the 

forest… 

Ant had been wandering over crin-kly, dry leaves for days in search of 

a nice, cool drink…

‘All I need is a drop of rain falling 

from a leaf – or a tiny pool of dew 

on a flower petal – or even a mud-dy puddle…’ he thought. But it 

was so hot all the dew and puddles 

in the forest had dried up.  

‘I’m so thirsty, that I have no 

choice,’ Ant sighed at last. ‘I shall 

have to go in search of the  Roaring 

River.’  

Ant had been warned about the 

Roaring River. ‘It roars and it swirls 

and if you go too close, it will 

sweep you away,’ a wise owl had 

told him. 

But Ant was desperate. ‘The river 

has more drops of water than all 

the rain clouds in the world,’ he 

thought. ‘It’s my only hope of 

staying alive.’

So Ant headed off. He plodded 

on and on through the trees, until 

finally, he heard rushing water 

ahead…

Before him lay the Roaring River – 

as vast as a sea, or so it seemed to 

tiny Ant. The fast flowing waters 

looked frightening – but Ant was 

too thirsty to feel fear…

He clambered down the river bank 

and bent his weary head into the 

water to drink it up. 

The cool, sparkling water was so 

refreshing that Ant didn’t hear 

a roaring wave coming towards 

him… 

Suddenly, he was flat on his back - 

his little legs in the air, being swept 

away by the water! ‘Help!’ he 

cried. ‘Someone save me, please!’

All of a sudden, a green leaf 

dropped onto the water by his side 

with a plop. ‘Quick, climb on!’ cried 

a gentle cooing voice.  

Ant didn’t have time to see who 

the voice belonged to. He just did 

what it told him…then he opened 

his eyes and looked up.  

Perching on the branch of a tree 

above was a pure white Dove.  

‘Stay calm, little Ant - and wait for 

the gentle breeze to blow the leaf 

to the river bank,’ she cooed.

Sure enough, the leaf carried Ant 

to safety. He looked up – but the 

Dove had disappeared. ‘I can’t 

leave without thanking her,’ he 

thought. ‘So I shall wait until she 

returns.’

Ant waited and waited. Then, just 

as he was about to fall asleep, he 

heard strange noises. They were 

coming closer and closer… 

Two men emerged from the forest 

and stopped under the Dove’s tree.  

One was carrying a bucket – the 

other a large, golden cage. ‘This 

is the tree – the home of the most 

beautiful dove in the land,’ said 

the man with the cage. ‘I hope 

that glue in your bucket is sticky 

enough…’

‘Indeed it is,’ said the second as he 

covered the branch with a thick, 

green paste. ‘When the Dove lands, 

its feet will stick to the branch – 

then we can put it in the cage and 

take it to the King. All we have to 

do is hide and wait…’  

Ant was horrified. ‘I can’t let this 

happen!’ he thought. ‘But what 

can a tiny creature like me do 

against two such giants of men?’ 

Ant looked up as he heard the flap-ping of wings. The Dove had re -turned and was about to land on 

the sticky branch…! ‘If I’m going 

to act, I must use the only weapon 

I have…’ thought Ant. ‘And I must 

do it RIGHT NOW!’

So he jumped onto the men’s feet 

– and bit as hard as he could…time 

and time again…

‘Yow!!!’ they cried out in pain and 

took to their heels through the for-est.  

‘Thank you for saving me from a 

life in a cage, ’ cooed the Dove to 

Ant.

‘And thank you for saving me from 

the giant wave, ’ replied Ant.