The Frogs & the Ox (Aesop’s Fables)

The Frogs & the Ox is one of Aesop’s lesser-known fables. As a father who lifts weights, I empathize with this poor frog. The moral of the story stabs so deep into my heart that it pierces my ego.

I’ve retold the story in my own words, but I’ve kept the moral true to the original.

The Fable

In the heart of an ancient forest, beside a reedy pool, there lived a family of frogs. These gentle creatures cherished their peaceful lives, hopping about in the marshy grass. Until the day the Ox arrived.

The Ox ventured down to the pool to quench his thirst, oblivious to the tiny lives cowering beneath him. After he had drunk his fill, he turned to leave, crushing a young frog beneath his colossal hoof.

The frogs raced back to their patriarch, crying:

“A great giant stepped on little brother with one of his enormous feet!”

“Big, was he?” The old Frog asked, puffing himself up to match the alleged size of the beast. “Was he as big as this?”

The little frogs shook their heads. “Oh, much bigger!”

The old Frog puffed himself up even more. “He could not have been bigger than this!” But the little frogs shook their heads again, insisting that the beast was much, much bigger.

The old Frog began to puff himself out more and more, and his body swelled to impressive proportions, his muscles stretching and straining. But nature has its boundaries, and the old Frog had overstepped his. And all at once, with a tragic pop, he burst.

The pond fell silent, save for the gentle lapping of water against the reeds. The little frogs were left in stunned silence.

The Moral & the Meaning

The Frogs and the Ox is about the folly of comparing oneself to others. The original moral is that the poor man perishes when he attempts to imitate the rich or powerful. That’s the statement Aesop concluded the fable with.

I like to think there’s a second moral. It seems that the frog fell into the trap so many young men fall into. Too many “enhanced” bodybuilders perish at a young age. Perhaps had the frog stayed natural, he would have survived.

Similar Fables & Folktales

If you liked the Frogs and the Ox, you’d probably like Aesop’s other fables. Here are some of my favourites:

• Two Wishes is another of Aesop’s lesser-known fables.
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a classic for a reason. I think there’s more than one moral lesson to draw from it.
• Belling the Cat is a medieval fable that’s similar enough to Aesop’s fables that people often think he wrote it.

If you want to go further beyond Aesop, I recommend The Farmer, the Snake, and the Heron. It’s an African fable with an interesting moral lesson.