"Do you mean to say I was ever like that?" asked Mrs. Frog.
"Of course you were. We all were," said Mr. Frog.
"I don't believe you," said Mrs. Frog. "Why, it is nothing but a little ball of jelly with a spot in it. How can it grow into a frog?"
"Well, I don't know exactly how it does it," said Mr. Frog, "but you can see it is an egg, and eggs grow into the most wonderful things."
"I am not going to believe this one will grow into a frog till I see it," said Mrs. Frog; and she swam away.
The egg lay in the water under a lily leaf. It certainly did not look in the least like a frog; indeed, it did not at first seem alive at all. But the spot began to spread, and day by day it grew till at last a tiny tadpole came out of the jelly and hung on to the lily leaf.
Mrs. Frog saw it, and called Mr. Frog to come and look.
"You were wrong," she said. "It is not a frog. It is only a kind of wormy thing."
"Give it time," said Mr. Frog. "We all began like that."
"What nonsense you talk, Mr. Frog! If it's a frog, where is its head? Where is its mouth? Where are its legs? The thing is nothing but a jelly-worm stuck on a leaf. And you tell me I was once like that! I have no patience with you. I shall not stay to hear another word."