Note: This story is best if it is read or told by one person to another person or group of people. The listener can be taught to enact the three repetitive actions – 1. Moaning, groaning and complaining, 2. gnashing mandibles and 3. waving the antennas in the air with appropriate sounds and actions (hand motions to indicate gnashing of mandibles, etc.) before telling the story. The the reader/teller can cue the listeners as to when they need to supply these effects.
An ant sat in the middle of a road. He was moaning and groaning, and complaining loudly to the blue sky, and gnashing his mandibles.
"I have no mother," he said. "I have no father and no brother or sister. I have no friend."
Just then a second ant came along. He was also moaning and groaning,
complaining to the blue sky, and gnashing his mandibles. (For this is
exactly what ants do when they are very unhappy.)
“I have no mother," cried the second ant. "I have no father and no brother or sister. I have no friend. I am so alone."
Hearing this, the first ant looked up. "My goodness," he said to the
second ant, "my situation and your situation are exactly the same."
"Why don't we walk down the road and discuss this," suggested the second ant.
And so they did.
By and by they came to a third ant who was sitting beside the road. He was moaning and groaning, complaining loudly to the blue sky, and gnashing his mandibles. (You will remember that this is a suresign that he was a most unhappy ant.)
“You seem to be very unhappy," observed the first ant.
"Can you tell us what is the matter?" added the second.
"I have no mother," said the third ant. "I have no father and no brother or sister. I have no friend. I am so lonely."
"That is our problem," said the first ant.
"Why don't you walk down the road and talk with us about it," added the second.
And so they did.
By and by these three ants encountered two other ants walking down the road from the other direction. They could be heard to be moaning and groaning, complaining loudly to one another about something and even (from time to time), gnashing their mandibles.
"If I am not mistaken," said the first ant, "you two ants are very unhappy."
"Could it be," said the second ant, "that you have no mother,that you have no father or brothers or sisters, and that you have no friends?"
"How did you know?" returned one of the new ants.
“That is exactly it," confirmed the other. "We are so lonely."
“At this point they all sat down and cried bitterly. They moaned louder than ever; they complained both to the blue sky and to each other, and they gnashed their mandibles until they were sore.
Just then a ladybug happened down the road. She paused at the group of weeping ants. Addressing one of them, who had stopped crying, moaning, groaning, complaining and gnashing long enough to catch his breath, she asked, "Whatever seems to be the matter?"
"Oh," he cried, "we are a group of unhappy ants. We have no mothers. We have no fathers or brothers or sisters. We have no friends. We are so sad and lonely.
"How odd," commented the lady bug. "As I was approaching you I asked myself, 'now what is the matter with that family of ants?'"
At this the ladybug bid them all farewell and walked on down the road.
The ants all became silent.
"You know," said the first ant after a few moments, "I could be a mother."
"And I," said the second ant, "could be a father."
"And we could be a brother and a sister," added the third and fourthants.
"And I could be your friend," concluded the fifth ant.
At this the ants picked themselves up, brushed themselves off, and walked on down the road, arm in arm. Their feelers were all waving in the blue sky, (for that is what ants do when they are contented). And to the best of my knowledge, they were never seriously unhappy again.