"Some time ago my wife and I hatched out twelve little tadpoles. They
were the sweetest children parents ever looked on. Their heads were all
very large and round, and their tails were long and feathery, while
their skins were as black and shiny as could be. We were proud of them,
my wife and I, and took great pains to train our children properly,
that they might become respectable frogs, in time, and be a credit to
us.
"We lived in a snug little hole under the bank of the river, and in
front of our dwelling was a large stone on which we could sit and watch
the baby tadpoles grow. Although they loved best to lie in the mud at
the bottom of the river, we knew that exercise is necessary to the
proper development of a tadpole; so we decided to teach our youngsters
to swim. We divided them into two lots, my wife training six of the
children, while I took charge of the other six. We drilled them to swim
in single file, in column of twos and in line of battle; but I must
acknowledge they were quite stupid, being so young, and, unless we told
them when to stop, they would keep on swimming until they bumped
themselves into a bank or a stone.
"One day, about a week ago, while teaching our children to swim, we
started them all going in single file, one after the other. They swam
in a straight line that was very pretty to see, and my wife and I sat
on the flat stone and watched them with much pride. Unfortunately at
that very moment a large fish swam into our neighborhood and lay on the
bottom of the river to rest. It was one of those fishes that hold their
great mouths wide open, and I was horrified when I saw the advancing
line of tadpoles headed directly toward the gaping mouth of the monster
fish. I croaked as loudly as I could for them to stop; but either they
failed to hear me, or they would not obey. The next moment all the line
of swimming tadpoles had entered the fish's mouth and were lost to our
view.
"Mrs. Frog threw herself into my arms with a cry or anguish,
exclaiming:
"'Oh, what shall we do? Our children are lost to us forever!'
"'Do not despair,' I answered, although I was myself greatly
frightened; 'we must try to prevent the fish from swimming away with
our loved ones. If we can keep him here, some way may yet be found to
rescue the children.'
"Up to this time the big fish had remained motionless, but there was an
expression of surprise in its round eyes, as if it did not know what to
make of the lively inhabitants of its stomach.
"Mrs. Frog thought for a moment, and then said:
"'A short distance away is an old fish-line and hook, lying at the
bottom of the river, where some boys lost it while fishing one day. If
we could only--'
"'Fetch it at once,' I interrupted. 'With its aid we shall endeavor to
capture the fish.'
"She hastened away, soon returning with the line, which had a large
hook on one end. I tied the other end firmly about the flat stone, and
then, advancing cautiously from behind, that the fish might not see me,
I stuck the iron hook through its right gill.
"The monster gave a sudden flop that sent me head over heels a yard
away. Then it tried to swim down the stream. But the hook and line held
fast, and soon the fish realized it was firmly caught, after which it
wisely abandoned the struggle.
"Mrs. Frog and I now sat down to watch the result, and the time of
waiting was long and tedious. After several weary days, however, the
great fish lay over on its side and expired, and soon after there
hopped from its mouth the sweetest little green frog you ever laid eyes
on. Another and another followed, until twelve of them stood beside us;
and then my wife exclaimed:
"'They are our children, the tadpoles! They have lost their tails and
their legs have grown out, but they are our own little ones,
nevertheless!'
"Indeed, this was true; for tadpoles always become frogs when a few
days old. The children told us they had been quite comfortable inside
the great fish, but they were now hungry, for young frogs always have
wonderful appetites. So Mrs. Frog and I set to work to feed them, and
had just finished this pleasant task when your soldiers came to arrest
me. I assure your Majesty this is the first time I have been out of the
water for a week. And now, if you will permit me to depart, I will hop
back home and see how the youngsters are growing."
When the Bullfrog had ceased speaking the King turned toward the Wise
Men and said, angrily:
"It seems you are wrong again, for the Frog is innocent. Your boasted
wisdom appears to me very like folly; but I will give you one more
chance. If you fail to discover the culprit next time, I shall punish
you far more severely than I at first promised."
The King now gave the Bullfrog a present of a red silk necktie, and
also sent a bottle of perfumery to Mrs. Frog. The soldiers at once
released the prisoner, who joyfully hopped away toward the river.
The Wise Men now rolled their eyes toward the ceiling and twirled their
thumbs and thought as hard as they could. At last they told the King
they had decided the Yellow Hen was undoubtedly responsible for the
theft of the plum-pudding.
So the King sent his soldiers, who searched throughout the Valley and
at last captured the Yellow Hen and brought her into the royal
presence.
"My Wise Men say you have stolen my plum-pudding," said his Majesty.
"If this is true, I am going to punish you severely."
"But it is not true," answered the Yellow Hen; "for I have just
returned from a long journey."
"Where have you been?" inquired the King.
"I will tell you," she replied; and, after rearranging a few of her
feathers that the rough hands of the soldiers had mussed, the Yellow
Hen spoke as follows: