Stories

TWO FROGS IN CREAM

by T.C. Hamlett

Two frogs fell into a can of cream,

Or so I’ve heard it told;

The sides of the can were shiny & steep,

The cream was deep & cold.

"O, what’s the use?" croaked Number One,

"’Tis fate; no help’s around.

Goodbye, my friends! Goodbye, sad world!"

And weeping still, he drowned.

But Number Two, of sterner stuff,

Dog-paddled in surprise.

The while he wiped his creamy face

And dried his creamy eyes.

"I’ll swim awhile, at least," he said-

Or so I’ve heard he said;

"It really wouldn’t help the world

If one more frog were dead."

An hour or two he kicked & swam,

Not once he stopped to mutter,

But kicked & kicked & swam & kicked,

then hopped out...

via butter!

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I love the story of the mule who fell into an old dry well many feet deep. All efforts to rescue him were fruitless. Finally, the owner of the mule, supposing that the poor creature was severely injured in the fall, decided it would be more merciful to kill him than allow him to starve to death. Unable to think of a better way of dispatching him, he had a truckload of dirt thrown in onto him. Instead of allowing himself to be buried alive, the mule quickly shook off the dirt and pressed it down with his feet, thus raising himself a few inches above his original position. Another load was thrown into the well with the same result.

Slowly but surely, inch by inch, the mule ascended until the well was filled within a few feet of the top. Then, as complacently as if nothing strange had happened to him, the mule stepped out on firm, safe ground. It may offend a few people to look at a mule for a lesson in living, but some people have never learned what that mule already knew - that the very setback originally designed to finish a person off, when properly used, can become the thing that brings him or her out on top. (excerpt from Think on These Things).