The Expeditious Frog
: Norwegian: Fairy Tales From All Nations
A fox came one day at full speed to a pond to drink. A frog who was
sitting there, began to croak at him. Then, said the fox, "Be off with
you, or I'll swallow you."
The frog, however, replied: "Don't give yourself such airs; I am
swifter than you!"
At this the fox laughed; but as the frog persisted in boasting of his
swiftness, the fox said at length: "Now, then, we will both run to the
next town, and we shall see which can go the faster."
Then the fox turned round, and as he did so, the frog leapt up into
his bushy tail. Off went the fox, and when he reached the gate of the
city, he turned round again to see if he could spy the frog coming
after him. As he did so, the frog hopped out of his tail on the
ground. The fox, after looking all about without being able to see the
frog, turned round once more in order to enter the city.
Then the frog called out to him: "So! you are come at last? I am just
going back again, for I really thought you meant not to come at all."
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