Theme: Pride, Self-Esteem
The
Gazelle and the Frog
Bela was a beautiful gazelle. In fact, she was the most
beautiful of the Golden Fields, where she lived.
Beyond her beauty, Bela was also agile. She ran very
fast with her long legs, jumping long distance, as if
she were flying.
The other animals even stop to admire her. The problem
is that Bela was also very proud. She didn’t like to be
with those who she thought that was not like her.
Bela enjoyed going to the lake to cool off from her
races and to admire her reflection on the water, which
showed how beautiful she was. However, the frogs lived
there who she found them disgusting.
One day, as she approached the shore, she
unintentionally touched Jorge, a big fat frog. Like
every toad, Jorge had cold damp skin. When she realized
that she had leaned against a frog, Bela jumped high and
ran away.
Jorge did not have time to say anything. He thought he
might have apologized for scaring her, but in truth, he
had been terrified too. He was almost stepped on by an
animal far larger than him.
Sometime later, Bela came back. She came with a face of
disgust, looking right where she put her feet. It was
accompanied by some gazelles, all with the same
attitude. As soon as the frog was seen, Bela began to
shout:
- That's it! We, who are better animals than you, need
to come to the lake without getting scared or have to
tolerate you!
- What?! Said Jorge, astonished. - How come? Here is our
home too!
Bela then began to badmouth of the frogs. She made up
arguments against them and insisted on they should leave
the Golden Fields.
At first, the frogs thought it was absurd but Bela was
very astute. You have to be careful with people like
that, because they can convince others even of what it
is not true.
Bela was smart and beautiful but she had no wisdom. She
didn’t know the Law of Equality which says that all
God’s children are equal. All the attributes we have are
by permission of our Creator to help one another not to
think ourselves better than our brothers.
Thus, as the days passed, the frogs became convinced
from what Bela said that they were not good enough,
ugly, embarrassing and they were not allowed to live
there. Because of this, Jorge and the other frogs left
the Golden Fields.
They walked a lot, looking for another good place to
live. They needed plenty of water with plants around
them and little animals because that's what they ate.
But they could not find any of it.
Several weeks passed. Jorge, who used to be fat, was
already thin. The singing that the frogs did every night
was no longer heard. They were all down.
At this point, these conditions made Jorge stop and
think:
- Before, we were happy and lived in harmony with
everyone. We did no harm to the gazelles. They were
intolerant to us. If God made us like this, green,
small, with cold skin, what's the matter? We'd better go
back and not be ashamed to be like this.
And then the frogs did other long walk of several days
until they were able to reach their beloved home, the
lake of Golden Fields.
It happens that after such a long time things had
changed there. Clouds of flies, grasshoppers and many
types of mosquitoes were everywhere. The large animals
had lost weight and were tired. They spent most of the
time moving themselves, trying to scare off the daring
insects that stung them uncomfortably and into their
eyes, nose and ears, in an irritating insistence.
When they heard of the toads' return, they gave thanks
to God. They knew that frogs ate the insects and kept
their population under control.
Practically all the gazelles plus the animals of other
species ran to the lake to receive Jorge and his group
with the greatest joy.
It was then that Jorge realized what had happened and
how toads were really important.
From behind Bela came ashamed and downcast. She looked
even sick. Besides physical exhaustion, she also felt
remorse for having offended the frogs and for being the
cause of everything. Fortunately, God allows suffering
so that He teaches us the lessons we didn’t want to
learn by other ways. And Bella had taken her lesson.
She looked directly at George and said:
- Please, forgive me Jorge! Now I understand that no one
is better than anyone. We are just different and we need
each other a lot.
- You do not have to ask me for forgiveness, Bela - the
toad answered - I had to learn to have self-esteem and
this was only possible due to everything that happened.
Bela smiled relieved and grateful for Jorge's kindness
to forgive her. He smiled back. They came along.
In the days that followed, the toads, hungry as they
were, ate so much but so much that soon they became fat
again. And without the insects, the big animals were
calm again.
Bela returned to having the good appearance she had
before but she became really beautiful because now her
heart was beautiful too.
Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com
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