The Ox and the Frog from Aesop’s fables with video and vocabulary practice for advanced ESL students
The Ox and the Frog is now in the public domain available at: Gutenberg Project
Persian version of the Ox and the Frog
Video of The Ox and the Frog
The Ox and the Frog
Two little frogs were playing about at the edge of a pool when an ox came down to the water to drink, and by accident trod on one of them and crushed the life out of him.
- ox: an adult bull that is very strong
- trod: past tense of tread, which means to trample on or step on something
- crush: to compress something heavily and damage it
When the old frog missed him, she asked his brother where he was. “He is dead, mother,” said the little frog; “an enormous big creature with four legs came to our pool this morning and trampled him down in the mud.”
- enormous: extremely big
- trample: tread on something
“Enormous, was he? Was he as big as this?” said the frog, puffing herself out to look as big as possible. “Oh! yes, _much_ bigger,” was the answer. The frog puffed herself out still more.
“Was he as big as this?” said she. “Oh! yes, yes, mother, _MUCH_ bigger,” said the little frog. And yet again she puffed and puffed herself out till she was almost as round as a ball. “As big as…?” she began—but then she burst.
- burst: explode
