Storytelling Week 4 - The Frog General

Off in a distant pond lived a frog named Winston. Winston had dreamed of joining the mighty frog army since he was but a wee little tadpole. All he ever talked or thought about was military tactics; he was enthralled by the subject. All throughout his life Winston was one of the smallest frogs in his group. The other frogs often teased him about his size and his lofty aspirations of holding the highest title a frog can get, General. He could not jump the farthest or croak the loudest, but he would not let anything deter him from his dream.

He trained day and night in preparation for boot camp. Not only did he workout his body, but he did something that no other frog did, he worked out his mind. He read any piece of literature that he could get his hands on. It was not just military books, it was also mentally enlightening books so he could adequately handle any sticky situation that he might come across. He was instantly at the top of his class in boot camp. He excelled in every facet of the program; his determination had paid off! All of the drill instructors quickly took notice to the tenacity and resolve that Winston had. They honored him with the top of the class title at the boot camp graduation.

Winston was finally in his dream field now. He had proven himself in boot camp, and now it was his time to shine and climb the ranks to reach that highly coveted General position. Winston knew that the title would not be given to him, he would have to earn it. He continued to do all of the training that he did in boot camp so he could always be improving. He was not going to let any other frog outwork him, period. Times were changing around the pond. A hostile group of toads were trying to takeover the entire pond; It was time for war. Winston had been training for this scenario his whole life.

The toads proved to be a worth advisory for the army of frogs. They had such a size advantage over the frogs that they were able to start dwindling down the number of the regime. Nothing that the frogs were doing was working. They could not defeat the toads in one-on-one combat. Winston was witnessing carnage from all angles. His comrades needed his help badly. Suddenly, Winston had a stroke of genius.

Being smaller than everyone growing up made him adapt to different ways of combat. He knew how to use size as a disadvantage. He commanded the rest of the frogs to start targeting the lily pads that the heavy toads were perched on; Winston lead the charge. The toads began to topple over quickly, losing their leverage. Their large frames made it nearly impossible for them to keep balance when the lily pads would start to shake beneath them. The frogs took all of the momentum and were able to push the toads all the way out of the pond.

This frogs began to cheer in victory. They had defeated the ferocious  group of toads and take back control of their home. All of the frogs quickly took notice of Winston's valor and leadership. He was everyone's hero. Shortly after the war, Winston was brought in front of all of the frogs and named General. His dream had finally come true.


(the pond)

Author's Note: This story was based off of The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird from The Tales of a Parrot. That story starts out with a Saweh, a small type of bird, having its eggs knocked out of a tree and destroyed by an elephant. The tiny bird realizes that it needs to get help if it wants to have revenge against the enormous animal. The Saweh quickly enlisted the help of her friend the Longbill. The Longbill knows that they need to consult with his friend the Bee. The Bee has a friend that can formulate the perfect strategy, the Frog. All of the animals collaborate together and are able to defeat the Elephant in the end.

I chose to go with a third person storytelling approach to tell the tale of Winston the frog. I thought this was the best way of documenting his feats and climbing of the ranks amongst the frogs. The Frog in the original story is a wise General for the army of frogs. I really fell in love with his character when he was able to develop a tactic to take down an elephant. It made me wonder how he was able to become so wise in military strategy and what kind of back story he could have.

Bibliography: The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801)