THE BOY AND THE FROGS
Some boys at play near a pond began to pelt the frogs with stones, just for the fun of seeing them go under water. They killed several of them.
At last one of the frogs lifted his head high out of the water, and cried out, “Pray stop, boys; what is fun for you is death to us.”
“That is true,” said one of the boys; “let us leave the poor creatures in peace.” And they did.
—From Æsop
SWEET PORRIDGE
There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother. One day they no longer had anything to eat. The child went out into the forest, and there an old woman gave her a wonderful little pot. When you said to it, “Cook, little pot, cook,” it would cook good sweet porridge. And when you said, “Stop, little pot, stop,” it would stop cooking. The girl took the pot home to her mother, and they were no longer hungry, but ate sweet porridge whenever they chose.
Once when the girl had gone out her mother said, “Cook, little pot, cook.” The mother ate till she was satisfied. But when she wanted the pot to stop she found she did not know the word. So it went on cooking and the porridge rose over the edge. STILL it cooked on until the kitchen and the whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, as if it meant to feed the whole world. No one could stop it.
At last when only one house remained the child came home from the opposite direction and just said, “Stop, little pot, stop,” and it stopped.
But whoever wished to come back to the town that night had to eat his way back.