One hot summer day, a dove flew down to the bank of a river. “I am parched. Let me drink some water to quench my thirst.”

As she was drinking the water, she noticed an ant nearby. A gush of wind pushed the ant into the river.

“Can ants swim?” She thought. But then she saw the ant struggling.

“Oh, no! It looks like the ant cannot swim. He cannot reach the land as the force of the water is pulling him away from the shore. I should do something, but how can I help?”

The dove searched all around to see what she could do to help. Then an idea occurred to her. She picked a leaf from a tree and put it on the water next to the ant.

Gesturing to the floating leaf, the dove said, “Climb on the leaf, my friend. You will be safe.”

The ant climbed on the leaf and slowly floated to the shore.

Gratefully, the ant said, “Thank you very much for saving my life. I will never forget this.”

Bidding goodbye, the dove and the ant went their separate ways.

One day, the ant was hard at work picking food for winter. He came across a hunter aiming his gun at something on the branch of a tree.

“It the dove that saved my life,” he thought shocked. “This is my chance to repay the favour.”

Without thinking twice, the ant bit the hunter just as he was about to take the shot. Wincing in pain, the hunter missed his aim. Startled, the dove flew away.

As she fled, she dove told the ant, “If not for you, the hunter would have killed me. Thank you, dear friend.”

Author’s Note:

Like all of Aesop’s Fables, this story has a moral attached to it. The moral of this story is “Good Deed is always rewarded”.