Mid April 2014 and Spring finally takes over from Winter.The critters are out and about and so are some of the characters that have been held up in homes and cabins. I love Spring with its promise of rebirth and new life.
This Post is brought to you by Learnin' Vernon.
A short folk tale and a video with Vernon sharing his favorite real life characters, his brother in-law Andy and his grand twins. We can learn a lot about ourselves and others by listening. Embrace what the world has to offer and enjoy the rest of April.
Too Deep
A folk adaptation
By Learnin’ Vernon
An Army of frogs were marching with
leaps and bounds through the forest one day, when two of the frogs
suddenly fell into a deep, deep, pit. All of the other frogs gathered
around the hole to look down on these two misfortunate Amphibians.
To jump out looked absolutely
impossible. They all began to sadly shake their heads and to croak
out dismal and discouraging words.
"It's much too deep!" croaked
one frog. Another frog said that there was no way either frog would
ever be able to get out of the pit alive.
Then all the frogs started to chant.
“Too Deep, Too Deep, listen to our
crying! Give up Give up, soon you will be dieing.”
The two fallen frogs began to jump as
they tried to get out of the pit, but with each jump they fell to the
very deep bottom of the pit!
The frogs that were watching kept
croaking louder and louder at them that they might as well stop,
because they were as good as dead and just wasting their time.
One of the two frogs finally gave up,
finally believing the negative comments and the advice of the frogs
at the top. He quit jumping and died from exhaustion, yes my friends
he literally "croaked"!
The remaining frog just kept right on
jumping and leaping harder than ever in spite of all the loud croaks
of disapproval from the frogs that were watching at the top of the
hole. They kept croaking shouts at him to quit jumping.
“Too Deep, Too Deep, listen to our
crying! Give up Give up, soon you will be dieing.”
They yelled to save him from all the
pain and suffering he was putting him self through, as he leaped and
fell back down to the bottom of the pit over and over again.
Finally, he leaped even harder than
ever, and to the surprise of all the other frogs he jumped right out
of that deep pit. Proud of his accomplishment he lay there totally
spent of any energy.
Amazed the other frogs asked him,
"Why did you keep leaping even
though we yelled and croaked for you to stop?"
“To stop?” asked the frog out of
breath.
“Did you not hear us?” The frogs
again yelled their chant” Too Deep, Too Deep listen to our crying!
Give up Give up, soon you will be
dieing”
It was then that the frog explained to
them that he was hearing challenged. He had thought they were
cheering for him and yelling words of encouragement to him!
“I though you were saying: To Keep,
To Keep, you got to keep Trying!
Get up, Get up, soar like you are
Flying!”
Words can be powerful. You can
influence others with what you say, so be careful with the words you
choose!
Oh, and our frog? He found a new army
of friends to hang out with. Surrond yourself with an army of
supporters who understand you. You will still have challenges, they
just won't seem so challanging.
©2008 Vernon L. Cox
Snakes
A grandparents tale by Vernon L. Cox
About: Your Maine Storytellers
Willey Phinedit (Find-It) Learnin' Vernon
