Fairy Tale: The Ox and Frog
Once upon a time . . . a conceited frog never missed an opportunity to show his friends how different he was, and how much better than everyone else. When folk were jumping, he always tried to do the highest jump, when it was a question of diving, he was first into the water. In other words, he had to be tops all the time. One day, a big ox carne to drink at the pond. Frightened, all the frogs hopped away to hide in the reeds, but when they saw that the ox was harmless, they came out again to watch the huge beast. "Isn't he whopping!" they exclaimed to each other. One frog then said: "It would take hundreds of frogs like us to make one of him!"
Now, the conceited frog, far more scared than the others, had dived into the water at the sight of the ox. But a little later he returned and, after listening to his friends' remarks, he said: "He's certainly bigger than we are. But he's not enormous!"
But nobody was paying any attention to the conceited frog, so he raised his voice . . . and puffing out his chest, announced: "I could easily become as big as that ox! Look!"
The frogs began to smirk. "You're very little, far too little!" But the frog just blew himself out even more. "Now look," he whispered, as he tried not to lose air. His friends giggled. h "What about now?" he managed to gasp, as he blew some more. "The ox is much bigger," came the reply. The onceited frog made a last great effort: taking an extra deep breath, he blew himself up until . . . BANG! His skin burst! The astonished frogs saw their friend disappear from sight, for nothin was left of the conceited frog but scraps of green skin. The ox, who had raised his head when he heard the bang, went back to his drinking, and the frogs hopped away, remarking: "It doesn't do to become too swollen-headed . . ."
