Why Grandfather Frog Has No Tail

WHY GRANDFATHER FROG HAS NO TAIL

Old Mother West Wind had gone off to do her day's work. She left all the Merry Little Breezes to play in the Green Meadows.

They played tag with the Bees. They ran races with the Sun Beams. They chased each other through the tall grass until they were all out of breath.

Then, one by one, they gathered around the Smiling Pool.

And there — sitting very still on a big green lily pad — was Grandfather Frog.

Grandfather Frog was old. Very, very old. And very, very wise. He wore a green coat, and when he spoke, his voice was so deep it rumbled like a drum. When Grandfather Frog talked, everybody listened. Even Billy Mink treated Grandfather Frog with respect. Billy Mink's father, and his father's father, could not remember a time when Grandfather Frog had not sat on that lily pad, watching for green flies.

Down in the Smiling Pool lived some of Grandfather Frog's great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren. They didn't look one tiny bit like him. They were round and fat and had long, wiggly tails. That is why they were called Pollywogs.

"Oh, Grandfather Frog!" called one of the Merry Little Breezes. "Please tell us why you don't have a tail — like you did when you were young!"

Grandfather Frog's eyes swiveled toward a foolish green fly buzzing close. His tongue flicked out — SNAP! — and the fly was gone.

Then he settled himself comfortably on his big lily pad. The Merry Little Breezes leaned in close.

"Once upon a time," began Grandfather Frog, in his deepest, rumbly voice, "the Frogs ruled the world. And the world was mostly water. There was very little dry land — oh, very little indeed. There were no boys to throw stones. And no hungry Mink to gobble up foolish Frog-babies who were taking a sun bath."

Billy Mink had crept up to listen with the Merry Little Breezes. He squirmed. He looked away.

"In those days," continued Grandfather Frog, "all the Frogs had tails. Long, handsome tails. And oh, they were proud of them.

"The King of all the Frogs was twice as big as any other Frog. And his tail was three times as long. He would sit for hours just looking at it. Then he would wave it back and forth in the water — SWISH, SWISH, SWISH — and every time he waved it, all the other Frogs would cry, 'Aaah!' and 'Ooooh!'

"Every day the King grew more vain. He did nothing at all but eat and sleep and admire his tail.

"And all the other Frogs did just the same. Pretty soon not one single Frog was doing anything useful. Just sitting around. Eating. Sleeping. And staring at their tails.

"Now. Mother Nature was watching.

"And Mother Nature did not like what she saw.

"She called the King Frog before her. And she said:

"'Because you can think of nothing but your beautiful tail — it will be taken away from you. Because you do nothing but eat and sleep — your mouth will grow wide as a door. Your eyes will stick out from your head. Your legs will bow. You will look so funny that all the world will laugh at you.'

"The King Frog looked down at his beautiful tail.

"It was shorter.

"He looked again.

"Shorter still.

"Every time he looked — smaller and smaller and smaller — until there was nothing left but a tiny little stub. He tried to wiggle it. He couldn't.

"Then even that — POP — was gone.

"His eyes bulged out of his head. His mouth stretched wider… and wider… and wider."

Old Grandfather Frog stopped talking. He sat very still and looked sadly across the water. A foolish green fly came buzzing right toward him.

"Chug-arum," said Grandfather Frog.

His mouth opened wide — SO wide — and he hopped up in the air. GULP! When he sat back down on his lily pad, the green fly was nowhere to be seen.

Grandfather Frog smacked his lips.

"And from that day to this," he said, "every Frog starts life with a big tail. But as he grows bigger and bigger, his tail grows smaller and smaller, until — at last — it disappears."

Grandfather Frog looked down at the Pollywogs swimming below, their long tails swishing back and forth.

"And that," he said quietly, "is how I came to lose my tail."

"Thank you, Grandfather Frog!" shouted all the Merry Little Breezes.

Then — WHOOOOSH — they raced off across the Green Meadows to see who could reach Johnny Chuck's home first and warn him that Farmer Brown was coming down the hill with a gun.