Fable of the Five-Legged Ant

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Fable of the Five-Legged Ant - This is just a little fable about the 5-legged ant that was sort of like the dumbest one of the "Three Stooges" – but of the insect world, not the human world. As everyone knows, ants, like many other bugs, ordinarily have six legs – two up front, two in the middle, and two in back. Ants use their many legs to walk, to run, to climb – and, when they are feeling exceptionally happy or excited, they use their legs to jump. For example, the legendary “Jumping Jack” was named after a fire ant who was, as the saying goes, way too hot to trot. So he jumped. Then, too, there was “Jumping Jack's” brother - “Jack in the Box.” He was said to be famous for having been trapped in a matchbox by the owner of a fast food joint in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The other ants passed the word around - “It does not pay to attempt stealing hamburgers – stick with sugar grains.” Enough of this background stuff. On with the story about the 5-legged ant. Five Legs, as this ant was known, leaned to one side. The other ants could tell him apart even in a crowd of similar-looking 6-legged ants. Five Legs was indeed different. Ants, as do many other bug critters, could re-grow missing limbs. Five Legs became expert at that. When he got tired of missing his right front leg, he would grab one of the middle legs and pop it into place up front. No need to grow another leg when you can simply stick an already grown leg in its place. Same thing went with the middle and the back legs. When Five Legs got tired of not having one in place, pull one of the others and jam it in to the empty socket until Five Legs got tired of having that empty leg spot. Five Legs became really good at leg-swapping. All the other ants in his mound marveled at Five Legs' ability to leg-swap whenever he felt like it. When it was time to dig mound dirt, the other ants would work at that task using their front legs. Five Legs would make sure that he was missing a front digger leg and escape having to do that chore. Ants carry stuff using their middle legs – sort of like they have a knapsack at their bellies. Not Five Legs. Suddenly he'd come up with a full roster of front and rear legs, but in the middle, he'd now have only one. Lifting stuff and jumping called for two good rear legs. Well, I suppose I don't have to explain how Five Legs got out of those lifting and jumping chores, do I? Five Legs became very well known in the ant colony. He was versatile, unique, never complained about anything, and was never known to do a lick of work. As you would expect, such attributes and renown finally resulted in Five Legs becoming the King of the Ant Colony. As with all kings, Five Legs' elevation to leadership literally put him on top of the heap, so to speak. He perched atop the ant mound and "kinged" like all get out from that lofty position. That was where a hungry blue jay bird grabbed Five Legs and swallowed him down in one easy gulp, all five legs of him. Five Legs had tried like anything to scare the bird away from him, but he had forgotten that, today, the day after his inauguration day, he had stuck his front waving leg onto his back end in order to stand tall – like a real king – so that his ant people would be sure to better admire him, the smartest and tallest ant in the whole colony. Moral: Getting a leg up over your neighbors can often be at the expense of both your body and your soul. * * * * * * * * * * Image source: Pixabay dot com, Edit Gus Kilthau * * * * * * * * * *