The Disobedient Frog

I live right next to a bunch of ponds, so I get to see a lot of frogs when I walk outside. It rained pretty hard today, the frogs were croaking like crazy. It reminded me of a Korean folktale I remember hearing when I was little. It goes like this:

There was a frog that lived with his mother. Whenever his mother asked him to do something, he would do the exact opposite. If she asked him to stay inside, he would go outside. If she asked him to go to bed early, he would play around all night. The frog’s disobedience greatly stressed his mother. Eventually she fell ill due to her son’s chaotic behavior.

She knew she was dying, so she called her son to her. She wanted to be buried in the mountains, but she knew he would just do the opposite of what she would ask him to do. She requested that she be buried next a river, hoping he would do the opposite and bury her in the mountains. The frog was over come with grief when she did die. He knew it was his fault that she fell ill.

To honor her wish, he followed her instructions for the first time and buried her next to the river. When it started raining the rivers swelled up and engulfed the mother’s buried body. The frog began to cry every time rained, to morn his mother. This is why frogs croak louder when it rains.