Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Shakespeare and Frogs

I've recently been dabbling in human literature and came across someone called Shakespeare. He seems to have been pretty prolific and must have made a bit of an impact because recently the anniversary of his death made headlines all around the world. What I didn't understand is why the media didn't make more of a deal about his birthday rather than the day he sadly passed away?

From the selection of articles I read (from old newspapers dumped near our pond by lazy passersby), Shakespeare really captured the essentials of the human condition (whatever that is). More, importantly, what does he say about the frog condition?


Looking through the sites I found, the main quote featuring us is from some play called MacBeth and I didn't find it very flattering:

Eye of newt, and toe of frog...

...not a great start is it?

...Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing... 

and so on..and on...

So great, I find out that this is all to do with witches - as if we didn't have enough to contend with in those days we got lumped along with some of the most unpopular people in society!

I'm still looking through his other works but I'm hoping I'll find something a bit better than this. Plus I've been referred to a book called The Animal-Lore of Shakespeare's Time. Let's hope there were some people around at that time who had something good to say about frogs.

Monday, 2 May 2016

A frog's advice on bullying

You humans always criticize "simple" creatures like us for our behavior, but what about yours? Who do you enjoy being so mean to each other? I keep reading that bullying is a big problem for children, but even you adults keep up this nasty habit – and even if you're not directly involved you turn a blind eye to it.

I've run into my fair share of bullies and I've found that you have to confront them whenever you can. Sadly, you can't rely on others to step in there and help you...

It was early one fine spring morning
While my lazy neighbour was snoring
I hopped out to get some food
But ran into a toad who was quite rude

He landed in the mud with a squelch
And began to yodel and belch
It was a most unpleasant combination
In fact it was an abomination!

His arrogance knew no bounds
As he continued with his disgusting sounds
He cried, “I’m the foulest toad in the west”
“And scarin’ frogs is what I like best!”

“Go get me some flies you green fool,”
He grunted as he began to drool
Suddenly, I was overcome with frog pride
And kicked his wobbly backside

The filthy brown lump let out a scream
As he rolled down the bank into the stream
“Why’d ya kick me so hard?” he cried
“I was only joking,” he lied

What a coward he turned out to be!
Did he really think he could mess with me?
Now he’ll know what to expect
If he doesn’t show us frogs respect!