The Frog and The Snake #23
THE FROG AND THE SNAKE
One day, the snake came out of his hole and started crying. A frog saw the snake. Though a little frightened, he went near the snake, and said. "Why are you crying?"
The snake said humbly. "A Brahmin boy was playing in his compound. I bit him and he died on the spot. At that time, his father cursed me and said, 'You kill frogs. Therefore you will become their horse and, day and night you will be kicked by them.' "
The frog said in disbelief, "What? So you will be our horse?"
"Yes, the curse of a Brahmin always comes true," said the snake.
On hearing this, the frog became extremely happy. He jumped into the water and told all the frogs what he had just learnt. He said, "The Lord is going to send us a horse to ride on."
When the other frogs heard this, they began dance with joy.
The King of the frogs led all the frogs to the banyan tree. The snake saluted the King frog and said. I am here to serve you. Please ride on my back." The King frog mounted the stake and all the frogs shouted with joy.
The next day, when the procession started, the snake did not move as quickly as before. Seeing this, the King frog asked him, "Why are you so slow today? Haven't you eaten any food?"
"O King! I have not eaten for four days now."
"Then why did you not say so? As you are my horse, I cannot let you remain hungry. I am the King Tell me, what would you like to eat?" said the King frog.
"O King! I only need two frogs every day, not more"
"Is that all? There are many frogs in my kingdom. You will surely get two frogs every day," assured the King frog.
As the days went by, the number of frogs began to dwindle. Finally, all the frogs were killed. Only the King frog remained. One day, when the King frog mounted the snake, he hardly moved. The King frog asked him, "Why are you so slow? Are you hungry?"
"Yes, O King! I am very hungry."
"Then why don't you eat something?"
Immediately, the snake threw the King frog off his back and swallowed him.
After some time, the cubs also reached the den. They narrated their story to the tigress. They looked at the baby fox who was scared of the elephant and made fun of him. The baby fox was very angry with his brothers.
The tigress advised the baby fox, "You should not get angry with your brothers." This made him even more angry. He said to the tigress, "Why do my brothers make fun of me? I don't like it."
Hearing this, the tigress started laughing. She said, "You are brave, intelligent and handsome, but my cubs do not know about your family and so, they laugh at you. An elephant is a large animal and all the members of the family to which you belong fear the elephant and can never kill it. But the tiger cubs are never afraid of the elephant."
The baby fox said, "Why do you say that? Who am I? Where is my family?"
The tigress said, "Listen, my dear. You are not a tiger cub. You are a baby fox. When you were small, I took pity on you and brought you up along with my cubs. They do not know that you are a baby fox. If the cubs come to know this, they will tear you to pieces. So, please leave this place. immediately."
The baby fox was terribly frightened and he ran away into the forest as fast as he could to save his life.
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