Twistales

An ox was grazing in a marshy field when he accidentally set his foot down on top of a bunch of young frogs and crushed nearly all of them to death.

One that managed to escape ran off to tell his mother the dreadful news.

“Mother,” he said, “it was a beast, a big four footed beast, that did it!”

The mother, thought she could easily make herself as large. “How big? Was it as big as this?” she asked and puffed herself as much as she could.

“Oh,” said the little one, “a great deal bigger than that!”

“Well, was it this big?” she cried, puffing and blowing again with all her might.

“It certainly was, Mother,” he replied, “and I’m afraid you’d probably burst before you could reach even half of its size.”

Provoked by such a provocation, the silly old frog made one more try before she did indeed burst herself into thin air.

Old Learning: Not all creatures can become as great as they think.