The Ant and the Cicada

The Ant and the Cicada

                 (A Tale from New Zealand)                

In the summer the New Zealand forest quivers with the song of Kikihi the Cicada. The air trembles with sound, the sun shines through the leaves as the warm wind gently stirs the foliage, and winter seems far away. That is the burden of the song of Kikihi. “The winter is past and summer is here. Let us sing our song on the warm bark of the trees and be glad, for cold and darkness have gone away forever.”

But there is another song that few have heard because they are deafened by Kikihi. It is a little song, sung by those who are working through the summer days, near the ground, close to the warm earth. It is the song of Papakorua the Ant. “Winter is coming,” he sings, as he scurries around, collecting food and storing it away. “We need food to keep us alive in the cold days of winter. Let us work to live.”

The days pass and winter comes. The leaves that danced in the sunshine shiver in the cold wind and icy rain flows over them down to the sodden earth.

Then Kikihi, who was warm and happy and carefree in the summertime, grows thin and cold and in the end, he dies, clinging to the unfriendly bark. But Popokorua is warm and snug in his home, well-fed, and looking forward once more to the coming of summer.

Source:

Myths and Legends of Maoriland

A.W.Reed

1947

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