Once upon a time the arms and the legs became angry with the belly.
‘It’s not fair. We do all the work
– walking, lifting, carrying, climbing, making, shaping –
and the belly does nothing.
He just sits there.
And he gets rewarded with all the food and drink.
And what do we get? Nothing!
We’re no better than slaves.
And to make things worse, it’s us who give the belly his nourishment,
tramping the fields, lifting the food to his mouth.
And do we get any thanks for our trouble? Not a word.
It’s time we taught the belly a lesson: let’s go on strike.
From now on he can look after himself.’
Paragraph: And so the arms and the legs left the belly to starve.
The legs wouldn’t walk out to fetch food.
The arms wouldn’t lift and carry.
And after a few days the arms felt themselves growing weaker and weaker.
The legs trembled and couldn’t stand any longer.
With an empty belly, the body began to fail.
Too late, they understood that it is the belly that gives them the strength they need.