THERE were once some Frogs who
lived together
in a beautiful lake. They
were a
large company, and were very
comfortable,
but they came to think that they
might be still
happier if they had a King to rule
over them.
So they sent to Jupiter,
their god, to ask
him to give them a King.
Jupiter laughed at their
folly, for he knew
that they were happier and better
off as they
were; but he said to them,
"Well, here is a
King for you," and into the
water he threw a
big Log.
It fell with such
a splash that the frogs
were frightened, and hid
themselves in the
deep mud under the water.
By and by, one braver
than the rest peeped
out to look at the King, and saw
the Log, as
it lay quietly on the top of the
water. Soon
they all came out of their hiding
places, and
ventured to look at their great
King.
As the Log did not
move, they swam round
it, and at last one by one hopped
upon it.
"This is not a
King," said a wise old Frog;
"it is nothing but a stupid
Log."
Again they sent to
Jupiter, and begged him
to give them a King who could rule
over them.
Jupiter did not like
to be disturbed again
by the silly Frogs, but this time
he send them
a Stork, saying,
"You will have some one to
rule over you now."
As they saw the Stork
solemnly walking
down to the lake, they were
delighted.
"Ah!" they
said, "see how grand he looks!
How he strides along! How he
throws back
his head! This is a King
indeed. He shall
rule over us," and they went
joyfully to meet
him.
But as their new King
came nearer, he
paused, stretched out his long
neck, picked up
the head Frog, and swallowed him
at one
mouthful. And then the
next---and the next!
"What is
this?" cried the Frogs, and they
began to draw back in terror.
But the Stork with
his long legs easily
followed them to the water, and
kept on eating
them as fast as he could.
"Oh! if we had
only been---" said the oldest
Frog. He was going to add
"content," but
was eaten up before he could
finish the sentence.
The Frogs cried to
Jupiter to help them,
but he would not listen. And
the Stork-King
ate them for breakfast, dinner,
and supper,
every day, till in a short time
there was not
a Frog left in the lake.
