A Folktale of an Ant: A Cockroach Sings a Nonstop Songs for his Wife
Once upon a time, an ant who worked long hours every day during the day would gather chunks of heavy food from the field and store it in the roots of the tree. The ant was exhausted at night and wanted he could sleep in the fields all night because he had to return to work the upcoming morning.
But as soon as the ant went to sleep under the trees in the middle of the fields, a cockroach outside started singing loudly, just like “jhir jhir jhir jhir.” The eyes of the ant opened again and again during deep sleep. As soon as the ant fell asleep, the cockroach began to sing “Jhir Jhir Jhir Jhir.” On that night, Ant looked everywhere to search for the singing cockroach in the fields and saw it sitting on the grassy floor in the field.
The ant said to the cockroach. Hey, brother cockroach, go to sleep and let me sleep too. Why do you sing all night? Do it during the day. Everyone wakes up and works during the day. How many people must sleep like me at night? And your voice will disturb us.
But the cockroach got angry and said, “Go somewhere else and sleep. I sing for my wife every night.” The ant stayed awake all night with anger and listened to the song of the cockroach.
The next day the ant got up in the morning and had breakfast and went to the house of the cockroach’s wife and said, “My sister cockroach, usually I work all day and at night I go to sleep when I am tired.” So your husband cockroach keeps singing all night, due to his habit, I was disturbed all night. Sister Cockroack, please advise your husband to sing for you during the daytime.
But the cockroach’s wife said, “If you work all day and sleep at night, we sleep all day and work at night. And my husband sings songs for me, so we spend the whole night laughing and singing.” We cannot sleep with you because nighttime is our waking time.
The ant finally voiced its grievances to the ant queen. The queen ant then declared her choice. Dear Ants, pay attention. It is time for you to go to sleep at night, so you dig a burrow in the earth or wall and spend the night there. This will prevent you from hearing the cockroach’s singing. Additionally, you will avoid being crushed by the weight of large creatures if you make a burrow.
Thus, after the decision of the queen ant, all the ants stopped sleeping under the open sky or in the fields. And they started living in the ground by making their burrows.
Written By Fozia Siraj
