THE commonwealth of Frogs, a discontented race, weary of liberty and
fond of change, petitioned Jupiter to grant them a King.
The good-natured deity, in order to grant their request with as little
mischief to them as possible, threw them down a Log. The splash sent
them into the greatest terror and amazement, and at first they regarded
their new monarch with great reverence and kept at a respectful
distance. But by degrees, perceiving his amiable and peaceable
disposition, they gradually ventured to approach him with more
familiarity, till at length they conceived for him the utmost contempt.
Dissatisfied with this state of things, they renewed their request to
Jupiter and entreated him to bestow upon them another King.
In his wrath the Thunderer sent them a Crane, who no sooner took
possession of his new dominion than he began to devour his subjects,
one after another.
They were now far more dissatisfied than before. Applying to Jupiter
a third time, they were dismissed with the reproof that the evil of
which they complained they had imprudently brought upon themselves; and
that now they had no other remedy but to submit to it with patience.