The Ant and the Dove

A Dove saw an Ant fall into a brook. The Ant struggled in vain to reach the bank, and in pity, the Dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it. Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar, the Ant floated safely to shore.

Soon after, the Ant saw a man getting ready to capture the Dove. But just as he got ready, the Ant stung him in the heel, so that he was thrown off balance, and the startled Dove flew to safety in a distant wood.

A kindness is never wasted.