I often think about this fable, but for some reason I always picture the "villain" as a drug-addicted rabbit.

I think a parent should be really careful about telling this story to a child, because I can see negative ideas coming from it. It kind of teaches a child to be judgemental. The grasshopper is lazy. But why? He just is. Some people "just are", and they get what they deserve in the end - misery and death.

To me this story encourages us to pass some pretty harsh judgements on face value. Maybe the grasshopper needs some different kind of motivation s/he hasn't found yet. I mean besides starvation. That's just too bleak.

I'd rather a child try to learn to see the bigger picture. When someone is in need, our instinct should be to help them, not to make snap judgements. Maybe something from the grasshopper's past causes him/her to have problems self-motivating. Maybe it's something that can be helped somehow, rather than just shaking a smug finger as the poor bastard dies in the gutter.

Don't think kids don't pick up on these things. I highly suspect they do.