It is related that a Mouse had taken up its abode on the brink of a
fountain and had fixed its residence at the foot of a tree.
A Frog, too, passed his time in the water there, and sometimes came to
the margin of the pool to take the air. One day, coming to the edge of
the water, he continued uttering his voice in a heart-rending cadence
and assumed himself to be a nightingale of a thousand melodies.
At that time the Mouse was engaged in chanting in a corner of his cell.
Directly he heard the uproarious yelling of the Frog he was astounded,
and came out with the intention of taking a look at the reciter; and
while occupied with listening to him, kept smiting his hands together
and shaking his head. These gestures, which seemed to display
approbation, pleased the Frog and he made advances toward acquaintance
with him. In short, being mutually pleased with each other, they
became inseparable companions, and used to narrate to each other
entertaining stories and tales.
One day the Mouse said to the Frog: "I am oftentimes desirous of
disclosing to thee a secret and recounting to thee a grief which I have
at heart, and at that moment thou art abiding under the water. However
much I shout thou nearest me not, owing to the noise of the water, and
in spite of my crying to thee, the sound cannot reach thee, because of
the clamour of the other frogs. We must devise some means by which
thou mayest know when I come to the brink of the water, and thus mayest
be informed of my arrival without my shouting to thee."
The Frog said: "Thou speakest the truth. I, too, have often pondered
uneasily, thinking, should my friend come to the brink of the water,
how shall I, at the bottom of this fountain, learn his arrival? And it
sometimes happens that I, too, come to the mouth of thy hole, and thou
hast gone out from another side, and I have to wait long. I had
intended to have touched somewhat on this subject before, but now the
arrangement of it rests with thee."
The Mouse replied: "I have got hold of the thread of a plan, and it
appears to me the best thing to get a long string, and to fasten one
end to thy foot, and tie the other tight around my own, in order that
when I come to the water's edge and shake the string, thou mayest know
what I want; and if thou, too, art so kind as to come to the door of my
cell, I may also get information by thy jerking the string." Both
parties agreed to this, and the knot of friendship was in this manner
firmly secured, and they were also kept informed of one another's
condition. One day, the Mouse came to the water's edge to seek the
Frog, in order to renew their friendly converse. All of a sudden a
Crow, like an unforeseen calamity, flew down from the air, and
snatching up the Mouse, soared aloft, with him. The string which was
tied to the leg of the Mouse drew forth the Frog from the bottom of the
water, and, as the other leg was fastened to the Frog's leg, he was
suspended head downward in the air. The Crow flew on, holding the
Mouse in its beak, and lower still the Frog hanging head downward.
People witnessing that extraordinary sight were uttering in the road
various jokes and sarcasms: "A strange thing this, that contrary to his
wont, a crow has made a prey of a frog!" and "Never before was a frog
the prey of a crow!"
The Frog was howling out in reply: "Now, too, a Frog is not the prey of
a Crow, but from the bad luck of associating with a Mouse, I have been
caught in this calamity, and he who associates with a different species
deserves a thousand times as much."
And this story carries with it this beneficial advice: That no one
ought to associate with one of a different race, in order that, like
the Frog, he may not be suspended on the string of calamity.