Storytelling for Week 6: The Tiger and the Frog Part 2

The Kingdom of the Frogs

The frog stood proudly after managing to scare away a tiger not once, but twice. Feeling very fortunate to have survived the day, the frog jumped back in the river and went about his day. Little did he know that there was an observer of what had happened that day. 

A bird had been perched on a tree branch minding his own business when he heard the exchange between the tiger and the frog. Intrigued about what was to come, the bird decided to stay and watch how the situation would unfold. 

The bird was impressed by the frog's ability to convince the tiger that he jumped across the river and that he killed and ate a tiger. He was so impressed that he vowed to tell all of the animals in the jungle the story of how the King of the Frogs was able to defeat the tiger, and even a fox. 

News of the brave frog scaring away a mighty tiger quickly made its way throughout the jungle. Soon all of the frogs in the jungle wanted to meet and live with the so called "King of the Frogs." Meanwhile, the frog was just relaxing in his river, completely unaware of what was to come. 

Before the frog realized, there were thousands of frogs serving him. The frog embraced his self-anointed role as King of the Frogs, and this is how the Kingdom of the Frogs came to be. Their kingdom was incredible; with burrows running all along the river, lily pads everywhere, and food aplenty. Everything was going perfectly for the kingdom, but the King knew the tiger would return for revenge. 

(King of the Frogs)

The tiger found himself on the other side of the jungle after running away from the frog. Embarrassed and exhausted, the tiger finally came to his senses. He felt stupid for believing that a frog could kill and eat a tiger, and knew that there must have been some trickery involved. Anger filled the tiger and he craved revenge. Determined to redeem himself, the tiger made his way back to the river.

After days of trekking through the jungle, the tiger finally arrived. Clouded with blood-thirst and unaware of the newly formed kingdom, he rushed into attack the frog who once embarrassed him. The frogs reacted quickly to protect their king and swarmed the tiger. The tiger was caught off guard and overwhelmed by the number of frogs attacking. Proving too much for him to handle, the frogs successfully drowned the tiger.


In celebration, the frogs cooked the tiger and had a magnificent feast. The Kingdom of the Frogs learned a lesson that would change them forever. They learned that united they stand and divided they fall, for they had strength in numbers.

Author's Note

This is my version of a sequel to The Tiger and the Frog. When writing this, I wanted to have all of the lies of the frog in the original to come true. Although he lied about being the "King of the Frogs", I decided it would be fun to have that lie come true. I also wanted the tiger to come back only to find his doom, so I thought creating a kingdom of frogs would be a cool way to accomplish that. One frog obviously couldn't kill a tiger, but maybe thousands of them working together could. 

Bibliography

Title: The Tiger and the Frog

Author: A.L. Shelton

Year Published: 1925

Web Site Source: Mythology and Folklore Un-Textbook

Reading Diary B: Tibetan Folk Tales

Tibetan Folk Tales

A lot of the stories in the second half of this unit are not the happiest, but I still found enjoyment. The stories of animals doing bad things are not as bad as if people were doing them. This is because they are each other's food. 

How the Rabbit Killed the Lion

So far from this unit, it seems Lions and Tigers are only portrayed as dumb and powerful. On the other hand, Rabbits are quite the evil tricksters. The Rabbit knew his life would surely end if he did not lie to the Lion, so he made up a lie about a devil in the water that wanted to fight the Lion. The Lion went to fight this "devil" and saw his reflection, which he thought was the devil. Instead of telling the Lion it was just his reflection, he started shouting it was the devil, and the Lion drowned himself like a fool.

The Golden Squash

I really enjoyed this story because the greedy man gets what he deserves. The greedy man is terrible and breaks the legs of birds with an arrow and nurses them back to health just so he can get a golden squash to make him money. To the man's surprise when he opens the squash, he was taken by the neck and killed by a fierce old man. Money really is not worth it if you have to do terrible things to get it.

(The Golden Squash)

A Rabbit Story

This is another story of where a rabbit is cunning and evil, but takes it another step in this one. After his mother is killed and eaten by his neighbor mother bear, he promises himself to get revenge one day. That day comes and he shoots the mother bear's child in the ear with an arrow and kills him. Knowing the mother bear would try to find him, he convinced a nearby tiger to let him hide from her. The tiger suggested he hide in his ear, which didn't make sense to me. I doubt a rabbit could fit in a tiger's ear and even if it could, it would be extremely uncomfortable. The rabbit can't stop his trickery and decides to tell the tiger that he is eating his eyeball when it is really the roots he brought along. Interested in the taste of the eyes, the tiger asks for a taste and eats a root. The tiger then decides to eat his own eyeballs because the roots tasted so good and the rabbit promises to take care of him. Not surprisingly, the rabbit lets him do it, brings him the the edge of a cliff, and causes him to walk off the edge.

Reading Diary A: Tibetan Folk Tales

Tibetan Folk Tales

The Tiger and the Frog

I really liked this story because of how funny it was. The frog reacted so well when in danger and somehow came up with a foolproof plan to save himself from the tiger. By taking a hold on the tiger's tail, he was able to look as though he jumped further. However, I do not understand how the tiger did not feel the frog on his tail, but then again he is starving for a reason. The poor tiger is humiliated throughout the story and makes me feel bad for him.

(The Tiger and the Frog)

How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit

This was another one of my favorites. I feel like everyone knows that person who is always trying to stir up trouble between friends, but they always get away with it. All the friends have to do is talk to each other to figure out that they were being lied to, however this seems to rarely happen minus this story. The fox is just a jealous and selfish friend of the tiger, and is shown as soon as the tiger becomes friends with the calf. Although I think the punishment is far too harsh, I was pleased that the fox got what was coming to him.

The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses

Stories about fate are always interesting. Time and time again fate is portrayed to be unavoidable, such as in the "Final Destination" movies. It is a really scary thought that your destiny has already been chosen and there is no way to escape it. I thought this story was exciting, but I knew the ending because I read the paragraph before it. I still think Drashup could have just left her once he found out she was the girl he was destined to be with and wonder what would have happened if he did.