Thursday 12 November 2015

The old man and the frog

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to sit alone on the bank of the river the whole day. He was a widower, with no children, nobody to talk to or spend time with and it seemed like he was a guest for few days. This sadly was his daily routine.


One day, as he was lost in nothingness, pop came the sound from water. He found a frog sitting in front of him, intently looking at him. "What is this?", he thought. And, then came the what-in-the-lord's-name moment, the frog spoke!


It was the cursed frog who, if kissed would turn into (no, not a prince) a beautiful-young princess. After all these long years of wait, the curse would be lifted as soon as the condition of a simple kiss is met. The frog begged as effectively a princess-frog could beg.

The old man thought and said, "Once you change to a beautiful woman, what would you be wearing? I have no clothes to cover you and it would be very unsafe, would you come with me to my house?" ;^) 
"Yes!", the next moment, frog jumped on the outstretched palm of the old man and gladly talked as the old man slowly walked, slow but faster than the long years under curse it had spent.



The old man sat comfortably and very calmly explained to the frog...

"What would I do if I kiss you? You would find a young man for yourself, which is right. You might give me a lot of money, but what's it worth? I am alone with very less time to live, I don't need exquisite treatment, I need company. I want somebody to share my thoughts and somebody to talk to.
Even if you promise not to leave me, I am old and weak to put up a fight with the young men coming around for you. So, my dear, at this age, when I am looking for company, I think a talking frog is more useful than the most beautiful and rich princess in the world."

And so, the frog and the old man lived together, the frog listening to the old man and talking to him.

I would like to think, the old man kissed the frog when he was on his death bed and set her free.

That is the end of the story.

And my take away from this, which is also my advice, is:
What matters to you changes with age. We keep blindly running after wealth and power, only to realize that these are temporary.
So, my friend, love your family, make true friends and invest yourself in the relationships. You might not matter to the world but for some people you will be the world and world would be a happier place.

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