The Ox and the Frog

A N OX, drinking at a pool, chanced to set his foot on a young Frog, ad crushed him to death.

His brothers and sisters, who were playing near, ran at once to tell their mother what had happened. "Oh, Mother," they cried, "a very huge beast, with four great feet, came to the pool, and crushed our brother to death in an instant, with his hard, cloven heel."

The old Frog was very vain. She was rather large, as Frogs go, and gave herself airs on account of it. "Was the cruel beast so very large?" she said. "How big?"

"Oh!" said the young Frogs. "It was a terrible monster!"

"was it as big as this?" she said, blowing and puffing herself out.

"Oh, much bigger," replied the young Frogs.

"As big as this, then?" she added, puffing and blowing with all her might.

"A great deal bigger," they answered.

"well, was it so big?"

"Oh, Mother!" cried the Frogs; "pray do not try to be so big. If

You were to puff till you burst, you could not make yourself half so big as the creature we tell you of."

But the silly old Frog would not give up. She tried again to puff herself out, saying, "As big as"—and she did indeed burst.

It is useless to attempt what is impossible.