Tale of Two Frogs, Milk and Butter

The Jesuit Anthony de Mello loved frogs and it always amazes me that the frog appears in so many great stories .

H/T to Jan over at Yearning for God who in turn got this great story from her priest. 





 One day, two frogs were enjoying the day in the barn when they accidentally fell into the farmer's bucket of cream, and they couldn't get out. 

The two frogs kept swimming around to keep from drowning, and every once in a while they would try to climb out, but this was becoming very tiring.



 


One frog kept saying, "This is useless, we should just give up." But the other frog just ignored the comment and kept swimming.

Finally, the pessimistic frog gave up and drowned. 

The other frog was sad at the loss of his friend, but he wasn't going to give up. He kept swimming and swimming, and, finally, the cream turned into butter and the frog simply climbed out.

This story shows that even if we stumble and others try to pull us down, we got t
o keep on swimming because, eventually, the cream will turn into butter and we'll make it out of the pail.

4 comments:

Jan said...

So glad you posted this story. I love your label "milk and butter."

Tim said...

This reminds me of a similar--admittedly less elegant--my old pastor used to tell.

A farmer had an aged mule he needed to put down, but he loved her so much he couldn't bring himself to do it. A neighbor suggested he dig a deep pit, cover it with thin plywood, and coax the mule to walk across it. The cover would give way, the mule would crash to the pit's bottom, and soon die of her injuries (out of sight, for the farmer's benefit).

So the farmer followed the plan and it seemed to work. The mule vanished from sight and every day he tossed his trash into the pit, thinking he was burying his old friend. Unbeknownst to him, the mule was not dead. She rummaged through each new trash dump for whatever nutrition she could find and climbed over the rest. Several weeks pass, the pit is nearly full, and farmer brings more trash to throw into it, only to find the mule standing beside the pit.

Moral of the story: People will play dirty tricks, leave you for dead, and inundate you with their trash. Take what of it you can find to gain strength and climb over the rest.

Barbara said...

Both are great stories worth pondering.

Blue Eyed Ennis said...

Hi Jan and Barbara- thansk for comments and glad you enjoyed the story.
Tim- I have not heard your one before but I think you know how much I love donkeys so this is an extra special treat for me- a great story and many thanks !!