【英】《伊索寓言》第28集：The Frogs Who Wanted a King

The farmer who owned the pasture stopped one day and called out, “Why are you so quiet, frogs? I enjoyed hearing your croaks.”

“We are sad,” said the biggest frog. “Because we want a king.”

The man thought the frogs were being very silly, but he really did miss the sound. “I will solve your problem,” he called as he threw a huge log into the water. “Behold your king!”

The frogs were very terrified of the great splash of their new king and held the king in great honor for a while. Then they discovered the king never did anything but float in the water. They began sitting on the king and jumping on the king. Some even danced on the king. Finally, they grew unhappy again.

“This is a terrible king,” one frog complained. 

“He doesn’t even seem to notice us.”

“He’s not very scary,” admitted another frog. 

“He’s big,” said the third. “But not at all grand or fearsome.”

So the frogs decided to ask the man for another king. They got together and hopped away from the pond. They hopped over the fields and across roads. 

Finally they hopped all the way to the man’s back door. Though they were very tired, they croaked and complained until the man opened the door.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“We want a real king,” the frogs said. “A fearsome one who will rule over us.”

The man was so annoyed with the silly frogs that he opened his door wide and shouted, “Then behold your king!”

At that, the man’s dog rushed outside and gobbled up as many frogs as he could. All the others hopped back to the pond and lurked under the water fearfully.

“We should never have asked for a king,” one frog peeped.

“Yes,” another answered. “No ruler is better than a cruel ruler!”