On a warm afternoon, a group of small frogs played beside a quiet pond.
They hopped and splashed happily near the muddy edge of the water.
Their mother frog was resting a little farther away.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A huge ox walked toward the pond to drink water.
The little frogs froze. They had never seen such a large animal before.
The ox stepped heavily into the pond with a loud splash.
In the heavy movement, one of the young frogs was crushed in the mud.
After drinking, the ox slowly walked away across the field.
Soon the mother frog came back and looked around.
“Where is your little brother?” she asked.
The young frogs looked frightened.
“A huge monster came here,” one of them said.
“It stepped into the pond with giant feet.”
“A monster?” asked the mother frog.
“Yes,” said the frogs. “It was very, very big!”
The mother frog puffed up her body.
“Was it as big as this?” she asked.
“Oh no,” said the little frogs. “It was much bigger!”
The mother frog puffed herself up even more.
“Well then,” she said, “was it as big as this?”
“No,” the frogs cried. “It was still much bigger!”
The mother frog puffed herself larger and larger.
She puffed.
And puffed.
And puffed.
But suddenly, she burst.
The little frogs stared in shock.
They had learned an important lesson that day.
Trying too hard to be bigger than others can lead to trouble.
