THE LITTLE FROG AND THE SMALL POND

Once upon a time, a young frog was having a wonderful time in a small pond beside a large pond. She was hopping and croaking to her heart’s content.

Everyone in the small pond would call out to her in friendship. Even the fishes and snakes were her friends. Her parents and her family loved her so much.

One day, she hopped and hopped and finally landed on the crack of a boulder.

She crawled and hopped her way to the top and saw all the splendor of the big pond.

Calling down to her family, she said, I’m going to hop my way to the big pond.

All of her family called back in fear, no, no! The pond is so big. You will only get lost and you don’t know what lies ahead.

Happy and full of adventure, the young frog ventured into the big pond. For a while she got awed by the splendor of the big trees, the floating water lilies, the smell of the dew on the lush greenery. However as time passed, she hopped and croaked but found no friends.

The big fishes snubbed her. The snakes hissed at her. At one time a big alligator passed by and she cowered in fright. Finally she sat down at the side of the pond and said, This pond is not for me.

A beautiful woodpecker overheard her and said, I am here, I can be your friend.For a time, the little frog was happy because the woodpecker was a very good friend.

One day, the little frog said to her friend, I miss my family, my friends in the little pond. Do you think I could go back?

The woodpecker answered, Whatever your heart desires, you can do. Do you really want to go home?

With tears in her eyes, the little frog nodded. You can always visit me there, can you?

The woodpecker answered, Yes I can and I will.

The little frog, hopped and hopped and, after so much hopping, finally landed in the small pond.

I remember being told this short fable when I was in the grades but I changed the ending, to suit what I want to share today.

Instead of the frog puffing and puffing with pride until finally bursting, I twisted the story to allow the frog to go home and even allowed the frog to find a kind friend. Why?

People in a way, at one time or another, like the frog, want to seek another milieu. We look out of our tiny windows and see a great big wide world outside.

Seeing the other sights many of us venture to another milieu where, ( if we are lucky) we get assimilated and accepted. The unlucky ones are tolerated, critized and snubbed. There are times however when even the unlucky ones are blessed with kindhearted friends who accept us for who we are. Others who are wise return to their ponds ,treasuring the kindness of the new friends, enriched in the wisdom that life in the small pond is ten times better than the large pond where friendships are studied, measured and even quartered.

I’m not saying that it is not good to venture out of one’s milieu. Many times it is. But one has to be armed with the realization that it can be a harsh world outside and that survival of the fittest in a highly materialistic and competitive world is the rule of the game.

The big pond can be full of alligators, large snakes and even big unfriendly fishes.

Perhaps awareness of what one has, what one needs to be happy and what stuff one is made of, is what is necessary before venturing into the unknown.

As I watch with a writer’s eye the many unhappy people who are trying to keep up with the Joneses, or the many others who are trying so hard in a world alien to them, I feel sad because no one needs a bigger pond.

One can venture outside one’s world, enjoy the outside world, meet many beautiful woodpeckers and then go back to one’s world secure in the thought that one’s small pond is home where love, loyalty, true friendship and care exist.

What about the beautiful woodpeckers? They are God’s gift to beautiful frogs too. Remember in the fable, there wasn’t a mean bone in the little frog. She was a happy one, full of life, open-eyed for adventure. She grew up in the big pond and realized that the blessings of the little pond was what really made her happy. Her woodpecker was the gold she found and treasured!

thanks for reading

regards jayke_pinoy_ako_e