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"Why the Frog Croaks,"
#205 Swapping Stories
We believe whenever the frog start making noise, that we are going to have rain. We believe that when the frog start [to] croak, that the rain will come. The story was that . . . one year, it was so dry. Trees die, animals die, and the frog, the rooster, and the horse decide to go to heaven. We believe there is some god up [there] that regulates everything. So those three animals decide to go up there and ask why didn't we have rain down here. It killed people, animals, and trees. So they set out. The horse would carry the others to set out to go up there. They went up there, and they saw the god up there. They said, "Please, please. It is so dry down there. We need some rain because people are dying. Animals dying, trees dying." So the god said, "We didn't know that there was no rain down there. In order for us to know that when you need the rain (when you go back down to earth), when it's so dry, then you have to call us." They went back. After they got back, [there] was rain. Now, whenever it gets dry, the frog makes a lot of noise. The people up there hear the noise, hear the frog calling. So they make rain, for the rain to come down. Notes to the Teacher: A1131.0.1. Regulation of rains. Thompson documents this motif for China and India. A2426.4.1.2. Why frog croaks in wet weather. (documented in Korea); B98. Mythical frog. |
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