Friday Fables

The Fable of the Weaver Antby Barry J. Northern A family of weaver ants chanced upon a fresh young mango tree one day and decided to make it their new home.It was not long before one of the family found a good leaf to begin the work of building a nest. He sought out the edge with his feelers and began to pull. His brothers and sisters saw him at his work and joined in beside him, adding their strength to the effort of bending the leaf, which was many times bigger than they were. They spoke to each other as they worked."We must pull this edge up to the leaf above us.""I will lead a group to that leaf to help receive it.""Collect the younglings, we will soon need their silk to bind the edges.""1 - 2 - 3 - Heave!""You there! Go and recruit more workers!"More of their brothers and sisters came and joined the bustling activity of construction. The chatter and noise of their collaboration created an atmosphere of joyous labour, and soon the leaves were bent close together. It was time for the chaining."Hold on to m