The Triumph of the Small: Clever Frog, Chameleon, and Turtle Tales

'You possess celerity,' quoth the Frog, 'yet I boast a superior fleetness.'

The Deer did indulge in mirth. 'Shouldst thou deem it so, let us engage in a contest of speed!'

Prior to the commencement of the race, the Frog did instruct his brethren to position themselves at intervals along the designated course. 'Merely interpose yourselves before the Deer as he doth draw nigh,' the Frog did impart unto them. 'The Deer, holding the conviction that we present a uniform aspect, shall be thus beguiled.'

The Deer evinced astonishment that at each undulation and curvature of the path, the Frog did manifest himself in advance. 'Behold, I am present!' he did utter in a croaking tone, ever in the vanguard, irrespective of the Deer's augmented velocity.

The Deer did exert himself with ever-increasing rapidity, until, succumbing to exhaustion, he did expire.

Thus did the Frog secure victory in the race.

'Pray attend,' quoth the Chameleon to the Elephant, with utmost audacity, 'though thou art of considerable stature, I possess a fleetness that doth surpass thine own. Let us, therefore, engage in a contest of speed!'

Upon the nocturnal hour, the Chameleon did convene with his brethren, orchestrating their disposition along the designated course of the forthcoming race.

As the subsequent morn did dawn, the race commenced. The Elephant, with prodigious haste, propelled himself forward. Picture, if you will, his utter astonishment upon beholding the Chameleon positioned ahead!

The Elephant, spurred by incredulity, redoubled his velocity.

Yet again, he espied the Chameleon, once more positioned betwixt himself and the finish. 'Art thou not fatigued?' queried the Elephant, breathlessly.

The Chameleon, with a tone of levity, responded, 'By no means!'

The Elephant persevered with tireless exertion, until his strength did wane, and he could proceed no further.

'Thou art the victor, Chameleon!' he proclaimed, with an air of resignation. 'Verily, thy swiftness exceeds my own!'

Alas, the Elephant remained in ignorance of the deception perpetrated by the wily Chameleon.

The Hare and the Chameleon, in a spirit of competition, resolved to engage in a footrace.

Unbeknownst to the Hare, the Chameleon adroitly affixed himself to the Hare's caudal appendage.

The Hare, with considerable alacrity, traversed the course, wholly convinced that he had left the Chameleon far in his wake, and elected to pause for a respite.

Conceive, if you will, his profound astonishment when the Chameleon materialised, surpassing him and proceeding further along the designated track. 'Pray, how did he maintain such pace?' the Hare ruminated. 'How is it that the Chameleon proves a superior runner to myself?'

The Hare, undeterred, demanded a subsequent contest, whereupon the Chameleon once more availed himself of the Hare's tail as conveyance.

Upon the culmination of a third such race, the Hare was compelled to concede:

That the Chameleon was, indubitably, the fleetest runner of the two.

He remained, however, wholly ignorant of the artifice employed by the Chameleon.

An Elephant and a Frog were, in truth, engaged in the pursuit of the affections of the selfsame lady.

Quoth the Frog unto her, one fine morn, “The Elephant doth serve as my very own steed.”

Upon the Elephant's discovery of this utterance, he was much incensed, indeed.

The Elephant did then declare unto the Frog, “We shall together present ourselves before her, and thou shalt recant thy pronouncements!”

They commenced their journey, yet after a brief interval, the Frog succumbed to exhaustion, exclaiming, “I am seized by an indisposition, alas! My strength doth fail me for this walking.”

Whereupon the Elephant, with magnanimity, offered, “I shall convey thee,” and did employ his proboscis to hoist the Frog upon his dorsal region.

Upon their arrival at the lady's abode, the Frog, in a moment of mischievousness, did bite the Elephant's ear, causing the Elephant to bolt forth in a sudden fright. As they hastened past the dwelling, the lady observed them and remarked with amusement, “Verily, the Elephant doth indeed serve as the Frog's horse!”

A gentleman, upon a certain occasion, did capture a tortoise.

Inquiring of the assembled populace, he posed the query: “By what means shall we dispatch this creature?”

“Employ hatchets to cleave him asunder!”, the populace did vociferate.

The tortoise, with a countenance of mirth, retorted, “Hatchets possess no power to cleave my shell.”

“Let us, therefore, crush him beneath a multitude of stones!”, suggested another.

“Stones, I assure you, are incapable of crushing me,”, declared the tortoise.

“Then, consign him to the flames!”, cried yet another.

“Fire holds no dominion over me,”, the tortoise calmly asserted.

“We shall then resort to knives, and dissect him with precision!”

“Knives, alas, are equally impotent against my person,”, the tortoise maintained.

“In that case, we must perforce cast him into the watery abyss!”

“Oh, pray desist!”, the tortoise exclaimed with marked trepidation. “I implore you, do not consign me to the water!”

The populace, thus persuaded, conveyed the tortoise to the river's edge and cast him forthwith into the current.

The tortoise, diving deep, resurfaced anon, exclaiming in triumphant tones: “The water is my abode!”

“The water is my abode!”, he repeated with evident glee.