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Frederick is about a mouse who, like Aesop's grasshopper, is too lazy to help the other mice prepare for winter. Instead he sits around and daydreams. When asked by the other mice who are busy working why he won't help them, he comes up with nonsensical excuses. Somehow the other mice tolerate his lack of contribution and when winter comes they actually share with him the food they worked so hard to store up. Because Frederick refuses to help gather food, they run out of it before winter's end and begin to get hungry. It is then that Frederick offers his own contribution such as describing colors he had "collected" while they had been collecting food. Rather than throw him out of the nest, the other mice marvel at his gifts and praise him for doing his part. 

小田鼠们都在忙着为过冬采集食物的时候，田鼠阿佛却独自坐在一旁，他告诉大家，他也在工作，只不过在采集另外一些东西——阳光、色彩和词汇。

冬天漫长而寒冷，慢慢地，食物被大家吃光了。这时，阿佛拿出了他“采集”的那些东西……