Grandfather Frog

“ You see he had lived a long time, oh, very much longer than any of the others, and therefore, because of the wisdom of age, Grandfather Frog was always called on to decide all disputes. He sat on his green lily-pad while Billy Mink sat on the Big Rock, and Peter Rabbit and Reddy Fox sat on the bank. Each in turn told why he thought he was the fastest. Old Grandfather Frog listened and listened and said never a word until they were all through. When they had finished, he stopped to catch a foolish green fly and then he said: “The best way to decide who is the swiftest is to have a race.” ”

“ So he slipped away as quickly as he could, and because he was so ashamed he crept along underneath the long grass that no one should see his short tail. And ever since that long ago time when the world was young," concluded Grandfather Frog, "the Meadow Mice have had short tails and have always scurried along under cover of the long grass where no one will see them. And the Wharf Rats have never again lived in the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest, but have lived on filth and garbage around the homes of men, with every man's hand against them." ”

“ The Merry Little Breezes drew a long breath. "Thank you, Grandfather Frog, thank you ever so much!" they cried all together. "We are going back now to tell Prickly Porky that we know all about his little spears and how he happens to have them." ”

“ Grandfather Bull Frog told her he was very glad she had come directly to the pond. He asked her where she would like to live. A tree would suit her best, she said, as she had spent most of her time in Brazil in a tree.
"Before I choose my tree," she told them, "I had better make my nest, as it is getting so late in the season. It is time my polly-wogs were hatching."
"Do you make your own nest?" Mrs. Toad asked her.
"Of course I do," she said. "I thought all frogs did that. Our family always do." ”

“ Here we mean always to live."
"Oh, Grandmother, how dreadful!" little Bully cried. "Why can't we ask all the frogs to come and live here in this pond where there are no bad boys to kill them?"
"That would be fine," she answered; "but how could we send them word? We have no one to take the message to them. I think we should be as happy as we can and not think too much about the sorrow of others. But come now," she continued, "I can hear Grandfather Bull Frog calling everyone to the evening concert. We must hurry."
Each evening all the frogs came together for a grand concert. ”

“ The principal trouble seems to be the difficulty of obtaining natural food in sufficient quantities to prevent the old frogs from devouring their young, which they will do on all occasions. Again, the young frog, from the tadpole stage up to the perfect frog, is surrounded by enemies night and day—aquatic birds, turtles, lizards, snakes, leeches, insects, fish, water-rats, and, worst of all, his own relations. ”

“ Doesn't it seem strange that when the ducks were so happy the frogs were so miserable? Now the frogs were happier than they had ever been before, and the poor ducks were somewhere in the woods sighing and calling over and over again for their lost babies. Some folks just can't live happily together.
Mrs. House Frog came hurrying through the deep woods. Long before she reached the pond she had heard the singing of the frogs. She knew this must be the place the Lark had told her about. She panted a little as the frogs all crowded about her. ”

“ They swam about, ate all the frogs they could hold, and were as happy as well-fed ducks could be. They hadn't anything to worry about, so why shouldn't they be happy? They thought they were very lucky to have found such a lovely spot in which to make a nest and raise a family. They made themselves perfectly at home in the Frog Pond. They liked the tall grasses and the quiet water. They loved this home better than any other they had ever had. It was so safe. Then there was such fine swimming and so much to eat. They could eat just as many frogs as they wanted. ”

“ At length, after many consultations with her cap, the affair was settled, and at the end of the second year after her parting with the queen they all set out.
First walked her bodyguard of grasshoppers, followed by her maids of honour, who were those tiny green frogs you see in the fields, each one mounted on a snail, and seated on a velvet saddle. Next came the water-rats, dressed as pages, and lastly the frog herself, in a litter borne by eight toads, and made of tortoiseshell. ”

“ The golden-rod was beginning to show small yellow-green buds on the tips of its stalks, and the little Frog-Hoppers were now old enough to talk and wonder about the great world. On one stalk four Frog-Hopper brothers and sisters lived close together. That was much pleasanter than having to grow up all alone, as most young Frog-Hoppers do, never seeing their fathers and mothers or knowing whether they ever would. ”

“ When all the tadpoles have become real little Frogs, with their legs sufficiently firm to enable them to indulge in hopping exercises, they still for a time venture no further than the very shallow water at the extreme edge of the pond, where they can walk partially submerged. Then one day there comes a heavy summer rain storm—a deluge on a small scale. Every little Frog then appears to hear the word "Go!" for with one impulse they all scramble out of the pond into the jungle of wet grass, they know not whither. ”

“ Upon one occasion, when the children ran up, it was to find the dog half wild as he barked to them to come and see what he was holding down under his paw,—this proving to be an unfortunate frog which uttered a dismal squeal from time to time till Gran’ma set it at liberty, so that it could make long hops into a bed of ivy, where it lived happily long afterwards, to sit there on soft wet nights under a big leaf like an umbrella, and softly whistle the frog song which ends every now and then in a croak. ”

“ The Golden Tree Frogs wore coats of grass green thickly covered with shiny yellow embroidery that looked like the purest beaten gold. Several of the mother frogs gasped as they saw their beautiful clothes. They went near and touched them gently. They had not known there were such handsome frogs in the world as these. The Golden Tree Frogs were much pleased to be so admired. They believed no other frogs could dress so well.
"A man came to our home and captured us and brought us to this country," said Mr. Golden Tree Frog. "He also brought the Blue Tree Frogs from South America. ”

“ His limbs were extremely delicate, and his eyes were as bright as diamonds. I carried him gently home, and ran with him in the greatest excitement to my mother, exclaiming, "O mamma! do look at this lovely little frog! It is n't human! It came right down to me out of the sky. I do believe it is an angel-frog!" ”

“ A big frog from the neighbour pool, unaware that there had been any intrusion here, came swimming up, on some errand of private urgency, and made directly for the log. The next instant, before he had any inkling of the imminence of doom, the raccoon's forepaw shot out like a flash. It was a wide-spread, flexible paw, like a little, black, lean hand, strong and delicate, the fingers tipped with formidable claws. It caught the swimming frog under the belly, swept him from the water, and threw him far up on to the shore. ”

“ Whoever made that dreadful noise seemed to be following him. He could not stay hidden long, so he thought he would go quietly over to his old log and try to find Grandmother Bull Frog. She always took care of him in time of danger, so he must find her. ”

“ She thought, ‘What is the silly old Frog chattering about? He lives in the well, croaking with his mates, and he can’t be the companion of a human being.’
As soon as the Frog received her promise, he ducked his head under the water and disappeared. After a little while, back he came with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on to the grass beside her. ”

“ Now in the well were some frogs, so the elder sister said: “Sister, do you see these frogs? The name of the Rajah you are about to marry is Dhuddoo, or Frog, and you think that he is a man, but he is, in reality, a frog.” ”

“ Once I observed one of the larger ones, about two feet long, pursuing a frog in our meadow, and it was wonderful to see how fast the legless, footless, wingless, finless hunter could run. The frog, of course, knew its enemy and was making desperate efforts to escape to the water and hide in the marsh mud. He was a fine, sleek yellow muscular fellow and was springing over the tall grass in wide-arching jumps. The green-striped snake, gliding swiftly and steadily, was keeping the frog in sight and, had I not interfered, would probably have tired out the poor jumper. ”

“ If there is one sweetmeat sweeter than all others to a coon, it is a frog. It was not mere chance that Mux was born in the edge of the Bear Swamp, close to the wide marshes that ran out to the river. This was the great country of the frogs—the milk-and-honey country to the ring-tailed family in the hollow gum. But Mux had never tasted frog. He had not been weaned when I kidnapped him. One day, wishing to see if he knew what a frog was, I carelessly offered him a big spotted fellow that I had caught in the meadow. ”

“ In the evening, when I told my father of my loss, he by no means made light of it, knowing my pet was no common frog.
"Poor fellow!" he said, "it was as bad for him as the 'Black Hole of Calcutta.'" I did n't know what that meant then; I know now, but haven't time to tell you. Besides it is n't a pleasant story. Then papa added, "Perhaps, after all, it is only a case of suspended animation. Your little frog may have only been in a swoon. If you open his grave in the morning, you may find that he has come to." ”

“ That is why small frogs are so deadly afraid if you take them outside the fringe of lily pads. They know that big hungry trout feed in from the deeps, and that big frogs, savage cannibals every one, watch out from the shadowy fringe of water plants. If you drop a little frog there, in clear water, he will shoot in as fast as his frightened legs will drive him, swimming first on top to avoid fish, diving deep as he reaches the pads to avoid his hungry relatives ”

“ After they had eaten their breakfast of young frogs and polly-wogs they left the Frog Pond. Mrs. Duck led her family back to the home nest and cuddled them snugly under her warm wings. There were really only eight left, but she didn't seem to notice. She is not very good at numbers. ”

“ Most of the Amphibia undergo a metamorphosis, or change of form, which is connected with a change in the character of their respiration and in the medium in which they live. Thus the Frog is, in its first stage of active existence, a fish-like Tadpole, breathing the water by means of gills, but afterwards undergoes a great change of form, gradually acquires four well-developed limbs, throws off its tail, and at the same time loses its external gills, and becomes an air-breathing animal, possessed of internal lungs, and capable of crawling on the land as well as swimming in water. ”

“ The King noticed how quickly her heart was beating, and said,
"My child, what are you afraid of? is there a giant standing at the door ready to carry you away? "
"Oh no," answered she; "no giant, but a horrid frog."
"And what does the frog want?" asked the King.
"O dear father," answered she, "when I was sitting by the well yesterday, and playing with my golden ball, it fell into the water, and while I was crying for the loss of it, the frog came and got it again for me on condition I would let him be my companion, but I never thought that he could leave the water and come after me ”

“ All our frogs lay their eggs in water in rounded masses, not in strings, as do the toads, usually attached to some submerged stick or plant stem. The tadpoles, light in color, are very voracious, and feed on every sort of flesh that they can bite off and chew with their horny jaws. On the approach of winter the frogs—except the wood frog, which hibernates in the loam of the forest, or in some rotten stump—sink into the mud of the pond or marsh where they live, and pass the cold months in torpidity. ”

“ And then the tail begins to shrink, and every day the tadpole is more like a frog, and more like a frog, until, at last, the tail goes altogether, and there in the bell jar is a baby froglet, who is quite ready to crawl out of the water on a floating piece of cork, and begin life as a land and water gentleman instead of a mere fish.
That is the way the frog young ones grow up. Their mother does not bother about them at all. They have to do everything for themselves. And they do it very energetically. ”

“ Terrible it was to look upon, with its long copper claws which moved always, its copper mouth and its shiny copper eyes. He was so frightened that his legs felt turned to stone; but when the frog put out its claws to fasten them in his shoulders, fear gave him wings, and he ran so fast that the frog could not reach him, and returned to the lake. On and on ran the poor little boy, till at last he found himself outside the woods where his grandmother and the chief's daughter were waiting for him. ”

“ By the aid of these well-developed lower limbs, and the prodigious power of their muscular and bony levers, a Frog can raise itself in the air to twenty times its own height, and traverse, at a single bound, a space more than fifty times the length of its own body.”
The food of the Frogs in the tadpole condition consists of decaying vegetable matter, though they do not refuse to prey upon animal substances also. In the adult state they feed on insects, slugs, &c., in the taking of which the tongue is principally employed. ”