The Early Bird catches the worm

Meaning: This proverb is used to tell you to act early or right now to be successful. If someone says, “The early bird catches the worm,” he/she means that if you do something early or before anyone else, you will have an advantage and be successful.

A story of “The Early Bird catches the worm”:

Jake was a blue bird that lived in a tall acorn tree in the country along with other birds.  Jake was a beautiful bird and a swift flyer, and he would parade in front of the other birds with his chest stucked out.  Each morning the birds would begin the day with a beautiful song.  “Get up, get up, let’s get to work.  Morning’s here and winter’s  near, get up, get up.”  While the other birds were busy gathering twigs and straw for their nests, Jake was fast asleep snoring away.  You see, Jake had stayed up all night to play games while the other birds were sleeping.  By the time Jake got up the other birds had finished their work.  At noontime Jake awoke with a l-o-n-g yawn.  “Time for lunch”, he chirped joyfully.  He dashed out of his nest in a flash and went looking for lunch.  He could just taste a fat, juicy worm in his mouth.

    After looking for hours in the hot sun, Jake went back home with a l-o-n-g frown on his face.  “Who ate all the worms?”  he snorted.  One of the birds took a l-o-n-g stern look at Jake and said,”Didn’t you hear the wake up call this morning?” Jake whined, “No, I was sleeping.”  Another bird looked at Jake with concern in his voice and said, “Don’t you know the early bird gets the worm?”  Jake had to go without food all day that day.  The lesson he learned was a hard one, but one he would never forget.

Story & Picture by Sarah Ward

Maher Taki