The Frog King
Did you ever hear the old story about
the foolish Frogs? The Frogs in a certain
swamp decided that they needed a king;
they had always got along perfectly well
without one, but they suddenly made up
their minds that a king they must have.
They sent a messenger to Jove and begged
him to send a king to rule over them.
Jove saw how stupid they were, and sent
a king who could not harm them: he tossed
a big log into the middle of the pond.
At the splash the Frogs were terribly
frightened, and dove into their holes to
hide from King Log. But after a while,
when they saw that the king never moved,
they got over their fright and went and
sat on him. And as soon as they found he
really could not hurt them they began to
despise him; and finally they sent another
messenger to Jove to ask for a new king.
Jove sent an eel.
The Frogs were much pleased and a
good deal frightened when King Eel came
wriggling and swimming among them. But
as the days went on, and the eel was
perfectly harmless, they stopped being afraid;
and as soon as they stopped fearing King
Eel they stopped respecting him.
Soon they sent a third messenger to
Jove, and begged that they might have a
better king - a king who was worth
while.
It was too much; Jove was angry at their
stupidity at last. "I will give you a king
such as you deserve!" he said; and he
sent them a Stork.
As soon as the Frogs came to the surface
to greet the new king, King Stork caught
them in his long bill and gobbled them up.
One after another they came bobbing up,
and one after another the stork ate them.
He was indeed a king worthy of them! |
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