Moral Story for Age Group: 3 – 8 years.
This is the story of two frogs from Japan. They lived far apart from one another, in two different cities. One of them lived in a ditch on a sea coast in Osaka. The other frog was from Kyoto and he resided in a clear stream that flowed through the city.
Both frogs were separated and miles apart. They had never seen or heard of each other. One day a thought struck both of them – they desired to see something outside of their own world. The frog from Osaka wanted to see how Kyoto looked like and the Kyoto frog was excited to visit Osaka. Thus, one fine day the two frogs set off on their respective journeys, wishing to make their dream come true.
Both the frogs started from opposite ends of the road that connected Osaka and Kyoto. The journey was long and tiresome. The frogs faced many difficulties before they came across a mountain that had to be crossed to continue their journey.
It took a tremendous amount of effort for both of them to climb up the mountain. When they reached the top, they both saw each other. Each frog was surprised to see another frog at the top of a mountain! The frogs remained silent for a few moments and then jumped into a conversation. It was yet again a surprise to them when they discovered that both the frogs had the same wish – that of visiting their neighboring country and know more about it. The frogs then decided that they should rest for some time before continuing on their journey.
“How I wish we could be much bigger. That way we could have seen the towns from here”, said the frog from Osaka.
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The frog from Kyoto thought for some time. An idea struck him and he was delighted.
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“It is not a problem at all! Let us both stand on our hind legs and support each other on our shoulders. Then we could easily have a look at the towns we wish to visit ”, he exclaimed.
As soon as the Kyoto frog shared the idea with his friend, the frog from Osaka jumped on his hind legs and held onto his friend’s shoulders, while the Kyoto frog did the same. The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka and the frog from Osaka turned his nose towards Kyoto. They held onto each other’s shoulders, clinging tightly to keep from falling off.
The ignorant frogs forgot the fact that their eyes were in the back of their heads. Even though their noses were pointing in the right directions, their eyes could only see the places which they had actually left behind. It was a disappointing sight for both of them.
“Oh God, Kyoto looks very much like Osaka. There is no point in carrying out the journey any further,” cried the Osaka frog.
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His friend was equally disappointed. He said, “Had I known that Osaka looks like a copy of Kyoto, I would have never left my home in the first place.”
Thus disappointed, both the frogs took their hands off from the shoulders of each other and got down on the grass. They bid polite goodbyes and returned back to their homes. Unfortunately, both the frogs led their lives till the very end believing that Kyoto and Osaka were no different towns but looked like mirror images.
Moral: Do not believe all that you see. What we see may not always be real.