Frog and Mouse lived across a stream. Mouse agreed to be taken across to visit Frog. Frog gets greedy and dives; Mouse screams. Kite hears and takes both.
When fools fight others run away with the prize.
Aesop For Children
A young Mouse in search of adventure was running along the bank of a pond where lived a Frog. When the Frog saw the Mouse, he swam to the bank and croaked:
“Won’t you pay me a visit? I can promise you a good time if you do.”
The Mouse did not need much coaxing, for he was very anxious to see the world and everything in it. But though he could swim a little, he did not dare risk going into the pond without some help.
The Frog had a plan. He tied the Mouse’s leg to his own with a tough reed. Then into the pond he jumped, dragging his foolish companion with him.
The Mouse soon had enough of it and wanted to return to shore; but the treacherous Frog had other plans. He pulled the Mouse down under the water and drowned him. But before he could untie the reed that bound him to the dead Mouse, a Hawk came sailing over the pond. Seeing the body of the Mouse floating on the water, the Hawk swooped down, seized the Mouse and carried it off, with the Frog dangling from its leg. Thus at one swoop he had caught both meat and fish for his dinner.
Moral
Those who seek to harm others often come to harm themselves through their own deceit.
JBR Collection
A Mouse and a Frog had lived some time in intimacy together, and the Frog had often visited the Mouse’s quarters and been welcome to a share of his store. The Frog invited the Mouse to his house in return; but as this was across the stream, the Mouse, alleging that he could not swim , had hitherto declined to go. The Frog, however, one day pressed him so much, offering at the same time to conduct him safely across, that the Mouse consented. One of the fore-feet of the Mouse was accordingly bound to one of the hind-legs of the Frog by a stout blade of grass, and the friends set off to cross the stream. When about half way across, it treacherously entered the Frog’s head to try to drown the Mouse. He thought that by that means he should have undivided possession of the latter’s stock of provisions. The Frog made for the bottom of the stream, but the struggles and cries of the Mouse attracted the attention of a Kite who was sailing above in the air. He descended and caught up the Mouse. The Frog, being tied to the Mouse, shared the same fate, and was justly punished for his treachery.
(Note: This fable is similar in nature to The Mouse and The Frog.)
Heinrich Steinhöwel (Of the Mouse, the Frog, and the Kite)
Perry #384
