
Frogs who lived in a pond without a leader demanded a king.
Zeus sent them a log and it dropped into the lake with a splash.
The frogs fled. After this, seeing that the log was silent,
they climbed up on it and played. Now they asked Zeus for an active king.
And Zeus sent them a stork, which some people call a heron.
The stork started to eat them. The frogs cried out at the top of their lungs.
And Zeus said, "You wanted an active king. You're getting what you deserve."
* * * * * * * * * *
This is my translation of Aesop’s fable The Frogs who Wanted a King. Does it remind you of some contemporary frogs who demanded a violent, lunatic king-president? Here is the original:
Βάτραχοι ἐν λίμνῃ ᾤκουν ἄναρχοι καὶ ἠξίουν βασιλέα.
Ἔπεμψεν Ζεύς αὐτοῖς δοκόν· καὶ ἔπεσεν εἰς τὴν λίμνην μετὰ κρότου.
Οἱ βάτραχοι ἔφυγον.
Μετὰ ταῦτα, ἰδόντες ὅτι ἡ δοκὸς ἡσύχαζεν, ἀναβάντες ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐπαίζον.
Καὶ πάλιν ᾐτήσαντο παρὰ Διὸς βασιλέα ἔμψυχον.
Καὶ Ζεύς ἔπεμψεν λέλεκα (τὸν ἐρωδιόν).
Ὁ λέλεκ κατέτρωγεν αὐτοὺς.
Οἱ βάτραχοι ἐβόων.
Καὶ Ζεύς εἶπεν· “Τὸν ἔμψυχον βασιλέα ᾐτήσατε—δέξασθε τὴν τιμωρίαν.”
About the Creator
William Alfred
A retired college teacher who has turned to poetry in his old age.
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