The Singing Frog

    The Singing Frog  Daniel Stefanovski      Once upon a time, there were two brothers, John and Peter. They lived with their mother in a small farmhouse not far from the nearby town. They lived simple, but peaceful lives, growing vegetables and selling it in the city market. John worked very hard and helped their Mom with the fieldwork and around the house;​ however,​ Peter was very lazy. He preferred to sleep all day long ​like a sloth​, and ate what John and Mom earned and brought home, which is the a​ ntithesis of John. ​That year, a late spring blizzard killed all the crops.​ John and Mom were desperate, they had nothing much to sell and bring food home. ​John was good with carving wood, so he went to the nearby forest, brought enough branches to carve a handful of flutes which can stabilize their    

    desperate conditions.​ The next day, he went to the city market trying to sell the flutes and bring some money home. “Flutes! Flutes for sale!” h​ e yelled so loud that he lost his voice,​ but no one came to buy his flutes. As the day went by, he was very sad and worried, because he had no money to buy food. T​ herefore​, he put on the sack with the flutes on his back and walked back home. ​On the way back, he stopped by his favorite place by the river, where he was usually having his lunch and sat down under the big oak tree.​ “Oh, no, what can I do?” said John. He started to lose his ​composure,​ and​ his eyes became sparkling diamonds​ as he put his hand over his eyes in desperation. Suddenly, he heard a voice.​ “Why are you crying?” it said. John looked around but didn’t see anyone. “Who said that?” said John. “Me”, said the voice. “Look down”. John looked down and saw a little frog. “I’ve never seen a talking frog,” said   2 

    John. “I can sing, too”, said the frog. Then the frog began to sing a beautiful song.​ John stopped crying, his emotions were p​ acified​, and a big smile opened up on his surprised face. When the frog finished singing, John told it why he was crying. “You are a kind young man”, said the frog. “I want to help you.​ I will sing in front of the people, and they will give you money.​ Then you can bring food back home”. H​ ence​, John went back to the town with the frog. Once again, it sang a beautiful song. A lot of people gathered around and gave John money. “Thank you so much”, said John. John returned home and told his family what happened that day. “Now we don’t have to worry about food anymore”, his mother said cheerfully. ​On the other hand,​ Peter had different thoughts, he was jealous of John for being able to make money in such an easy way. That night, Peter stole the frog. “I will make more money than John”, he said. He sneaked out from home before John and Mom were awake and went to the town. “Come on everyone, see the amazing singing frog”, he yelled. All the people in the market started gathering to see the   3 

    singing frog. But this time, the frog didn’t sing. It just croaked like every other frog. “C’mon, sing frog, sing!”, yelled Peter. But nothing happened. “Hey, that’s just a normal frog!” People started to laugh. “Don’t lie to us, young man. Go home!”, they said. Peter felt stupid and embarrassed. He ran back home to Mom and John. “I am so sorry mother”, he said. “I will not be lazy anymore. I will always help you and John. I realized bad habits chase away good things in life”. After that, Peter’s ​indolent​ behavior e​ nsued​, and he turned into a much more industrious person. He had learned his lesson. With two more hands in the house, they never had to ask the frog for help again. N​ evertheless​, they always enjoyed its beautiful songs by the river, whenever they were having their lunch.    4