The One Thousand Four Hundred Lies of the Frog
In Green Island Village, there lived a frog. He was a bit clumsy.
He couldn’t sing at all. Not even a single song, not half a song, not even a song as small as a peanut.
He always had trouble seeing things. He couldn’t see the large lotus pods, the big lotus flowers, or even the vast lotus leaves.
He never knew how to jump. He couldn’t jump up, couldn’t jump down, not even a little hop in place.
He could catch some bugs, but they were always found in the muddy dirt.
The people of Green Island Village didn’t dislike the frog because he was clumsy, but because he loved to tell lies.
He told the beaver that fish would fall from the sky. The beaver believed him and stood outside with a basin, waiting to catch them. But after waiting and waiting until it got dark, not a single fish fell. Instead, there was a heavy downpour, and the beaver got soaked, sneezing non-stop.
He also told the squirrel that there were many red doves in the orchard. The squirrel believed him and took a bunch of friends with cameras to capture photos of the red doves. But there were no red doves at all! Instead, many red fruits fell from the trees—thud thud thud—hitting the squirrels on their heads and even breaking some of their cameras.
He told the rabbit that there were golden playing cards all over the fields. The rabbit, who loved playing cards, brought a big cart to collect them. But there were no playing cards. Instead, golden wheat grains rained down, covering the rabbit.
The frog had told so many lies. He claimed he could paint with his hat, said he had one hundred axes at home, said there were nails in the sky, and even that he liked wearing crunchy bread around his neck in winter.
Everyone added it up: the frog had told a total of one thousand four hundred lies. This really annoyed people, and they decided never to talk to the frog again.
No one spoke to him, so the frog stayed at home, crying sadly. He cried so much that his tears soaked his clothes, the floor, and kept accumulating until they turned into a small pond inside his house.
“Help!” the frog screamed in fear.
Many people heard his cries and came running. The beaver jumped into the water and saved the frog. The squirrel handed him a towel to dry himself, and the rabbit brought him a cup of hot water…
The beaver angrily said, “Frog, if you still want to be friends with us, you must never tell lies again.”
“Yes, you’ve already told one thousand four hundred lies, and we’re all very upset,” the squirrel and rabbit chimed in together.
“I didn’t!” the frog cried again, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “I didn’t tell that many lies.”
“Hmph! We’ve counted many times. We couldn’t be wrong!”
“Actually, I only told one lie,” the frog sobbed. “On my first day in Green Island Village, you all asked me who I was. I told you I was a frog. But… I’m really a mole. The frog has always been my idol. All this time, I’ve been learning to speak frog language.” As he finished, he pulled a soggy Frog Dictionary from his pocket.
“Oh, no wonder!” everyone laughed. And now, they made a new decision—to each buy a Mole Dictionary and study hard.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
