Task

1. Read the Aesop’s fable and answer the following questions.
   
   http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper_p1.html
   
   1. During the summer months, which insect seems more content?
   2. How does the situation change in the winter?
   3. In life, is hard work always rewarded and idleness punished?
   
   
   Review the glossary before reading the Maugham’s story.
   
   Giddiness: Lack of seriousness
   Blade: leaf
   Larder: room where food is kept
   Saving your presence: without meaning to annoy you
   Gloom: sadness, hopelessness
   In hilarious spirits: in a very good mood
   Chuck: give up on
   A sore trial: an annoyance, a problem
   Wasn’t suitable for: didn’t have the right qualities for
   Expostulations: friendly protest
   Qualm: doubt, hesitation
   Grudged: was unwilling to give
   Thrift: careful use of money, without waste
   Workhouse: place for poor people to live
   Wrathful: angry
   Sovereign: an old British gold coin
   
2. Read the story and decide whether the message in this modern story is the same as, or different from, the one in the Aesop’s fable.
   
   http://www.torribioblups.net/painfulbits/SomersetAntGrasshopper.htm
   
   Use the following questions to understand the story better and bring your own experience to the reading
   
   1.What things didn’t George Ramsay like about his brother Tom? Do you feel the same way about Tom?
   2.How was it that Tom always have money if he didn´t work regulary? Why did George give Tom money even after George had “washed his hands of him?
   3.In what ways was George like the ant and his brother like the grasshopper in the fables?
   4. Why was George so upset by Tom’s good fortune at the end of the story?
   5.Were you happy for Tom or disappointed?
   
3. Write an essay on how is the message in Maugham’s story different form the message in Aesop’s fable. Write at least 75 words.