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Level 3
The Frog who wishes to be as big as the ox
An adaptation of Jean de La Fontaine’s fable
A Frog
Sees an ox.
He notices its beautiful size.
The ox is big,
He is strong.
The Frog is a small animal,
No bigger than an egg!
He is feeble next to the ox.
Jealous, Envious,
He wants to be big,
Imposing like the ox.
Envious, Silly,
He thinks:
« I can get as big as him! »
Then he blows himself up,
and up
Confident, he stretches,
swells, and strains.
And says to his friend
« Sister Frog, look here,
and tell me!
Is this enough?
Am I as big as an ox? »
« No, no » replies his friend
« And now? »
« No »
« And now? »
« Not at all. »
« What about now? »
« Oh, no,
absolutely not. »
So the feeble and
pretentious Frog
swells again and again…
But he swells too much…
And blows up!
A Frog as big as an ox?
What vanity!
Stupidity, madness, yes!
But the Frog is not the only one.
The world is full of people like him,
Bourgeois,
little Princes
and Marquis.
They want to be bigger,
Unwise people
They want to appear more important.