The Frog And The Snake

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Title:     The Frog And The Snake
Author: W.H.D. Rouse [More Titles by Rouse]

A FROG and a Snake had a quarrel as to which could give the more deadly bite. They agreed to try it on the next opportunity.

A Man came to bathe in the pond where these two creatures lived. The Snake bit him under the water, while the Frog floated on the top. "Something has bitten me!" the Man called out to his friends.

"What is it?" they asked.

Then he saw the Frog swimming on the top of the water. "Oh, it's only a Frog," said he. Then he went away, and no harm came of it.

The next time that Man came to bathe in the pond, the Frog bit him under the water, while the Snake swam on the top.

"Oh dear!" said the Man, "a Snake has bitten me!" The Man died.

"Now," said the Frog, "you will admit that my bite is more poisonous than yours."

"I deny it altogether," said the Snake.

So they agreed to refer their dispute to the King of the Snakes. The Snake King listened to their arguments, and decided in favour of the Snake, and said the Man had died of fright.

"Of course," grumbled the Frog, "the Snake King sides with the Snake."

So both of them bit the Frog, and he died, and
that was the end of him.

NOTES

[The Frog and the Snake:

Told by AKBAR SHÁH, Mánjhi, one of the jungle-folk
of Manbasa, Dudhi, Mirzápur, and recorded by
Pandit Ramgharíb Chaubé. N.I.N.Q., iii. § 101.

No change. The King of the Snakes is Vásuki Nága.

[The end]
W.H.D. Rouse's short story: Frog And The Snake

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