The Spider's Feast and His Guests

The Spider prepared a great feast and invited the Fly and the Ant. As they were about to eat, the Spider said, "My friends, it is our custom to wash our hands before a meal. But the river is far. I will go first, as I am the host." The Spider left, but he only pretended to go to the river. He circled back, hid, and ate the entire feast himself. When the Fly and the Ant returned from the river, they found the pots empty. "A terrible thing has happened!" the Spider cried. "A wild beast came and devoured everything!" The Fly, being flighty and quick to believe, accepted the story. But the Ant was observant. He saw a grain of rice stuck in the corner of the Spider's mouth. The Ant said nothing, but he learned a valuable lesson. The next week, the Ant invited the Spider to a feast. When the Spider arrived, the Ant said, "Welcome, friend. But in my house, we have a custom that guests must be clean from head to toe." The Spider, who had walked through dusty paths, was covered in dirt. While he was away washing himself thoroughly, the Ant and his family ate all the food. The Spider returned, clean but hungry, having been repaid for his own trick with a lesson in his own customs.