THETWOFROGS
OnceuponatimeinthecountryofJapantherelivedtwofrogs，oneofwhommadehishomeinaditchnearthetownofOsaka，ontheseacoast，whiletheotherdweltinaclearlittlestreamwhichranthroughthecityofKioto。Atsuchagreatdistanceapart，theyhadneverevenheardofeachother;but，funnilyenough，theideacameintoboththeirheadsatoncethattheyshouldliketoseealittleoftheworld，andthefrogwholivedatKiotowantedtovisitOsaka，andthefrogwholivedatOsakawishedtogotoKioto，wherethegreatMikadohadhispalace。
SoonefinemorninginthespringtheybothsetoutalongtheroadthatledfromKiototoOsaka，onefromoneendandtheotherfromtheother。Thejourneywasmoretiringthantheyexpected，fortheydidnotknowmuchabouttravelling，andhalfwaybetweenthetwotownstherearoseamountainwhichhadtobeclimbed。Ittookthemalongtimeandagreatmanyhopstoreachthetop，buttheretheywereatlast，andwhatwasthesurpriseofeachtoseeanotherfrogbeforehim！Theylookedateachotherforamomentwithoutspeaking，andthenfellintoconversation，explainingthecauseoftheirmeetingsofarfromtheirhomes。Itwasdelightfultofindthattheybothfeltthesamewish——tolearnalittlemoreoftheirnativecountry——andastherewasnosortofhurrytheystretchedthemselvesoutinacool，dampplace，andagreedthattheywouldhaveagoodrestbeforetheypartedtogotheirways。
’Whatapitywearenotbigger，’saidtheOsakafrog;’forthenwecouldseebothtownsfromhere，andtellifitisworthourwhilegoingon。’
’Oh，thatiseasilymanaged，’returnedtheKiotofrog。’Wehaveonlygottostanduponourhindlegs，andholdontoeachother，andthenwecaneachlookatthetownheistravellingto。’