Two Frogs in a pail...

[Guest guest]

Once a big fat frog and a lively little frog were hopping along

together when they had the misfortune of jumping into a pail of fresh

milk. They swam for hours and hours hoping to get out somehow; but

the sides of the pail were steep and slippery and death seemed to be

certain. When the big frog was exhausted he lost courage. There

seemed no hope of rescue. " Why keep struggling against the

inevitable? I cannot swim any longer. " He moaned. " Keep on! Keep on! "

urged the little frog, who was still circling the pail. So they went

on for a while. But the big frog decided it was no use. " Little

brother, We may as well give up " he gasped. " I am going to quit

struggling. " Now only the little frog was left. He thought to

himself. " Well, to give up is to be dead, so I will keep swimming. "

Two more hours passed and the tiny legs of the determined little frog

were almost paralysed with exhaustion. It seemed as if he could not

keep moving for another minute. But he thought of his dead friend,

and repeated, " To give up is to be meat for someone's table, so I'll

keep paddling on until I die – if death is to come – but I will not

cease trying – while there is life, there is hope. " Intoxicated with

determination, the little frog kept on swimming around and around the

pail, chopping the milk into white waves. After a while, just as he

felt completely numb and thought he was about to drown, he suddenly

felt something solid under him. To his astonishment, he saw that he

was resting on a lump of butter which he had churned by constant

paddling! And so the successful little frog leaped out of the milk

pail to freedom.