The elephant and the frog

There was a bridge. On one side of the bridge was an elephant, and on the other side of the bridge was a frog. The frog said to the elephant, “Please wait. Let me cross the bridge first. Then you can come.”

The elephant asked, “Why?”

The frog said, “If both of us cross together, then the bridge will shake uncontrollably. It may even collapse.”

The elephant said, “I am an elephant. I am so heavy. I shall go first. You weigh nothing, so you can cross after me.”

When the elephant started walking over the bridge, the frog also tried to cross. When they met in the centre of the bridge and passed by each other, the bridge began to shake. It was on the point of collapsing.

The frog said, “This is because of you! You are huge, but you have no brain. Can you not see what is happening now? This is all because you did not listen to me. I am going to curse you.”

The elephant replied, “What can you do? You are a mere frog.”

Then the frog jumped off the bridge into the water. The elephant was trembling in all its limbs. It knew that something serious was about to happen, but it did not know what to do.

The frog called out, “You are huge, but you have no brain. If you had listened to me, if I had gone first, then nothing would have happened.” In this way, the frog went on insulting the elephant.

The elephant said, “Now you are in the water, so you are safe. But if you come here and challenge me, I will prove who is more powerful.”

“Why do I have to challenge you?” said the frog. “You have already lost. You have no brain. You did not listen to me. Because you did not listen to me, the bridge is collapsing.”

As the frog spoke, the bridge broke apart and the elephant was thrown into the rushing river.