The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox
An envious little frog, no bigger than an egg, sees a stately bullock and becomes determined to match its size. She repeatedly stretches, swells, and asks her sister whether she is large enough, but receives only dismissive replies. Persisting in her effort to grow, she enlarges until she splits. The fable compares her folly to that of lesser people who imitate the grand houses and ambitions of great men, swelling themselves beyond measure.
By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale · 281 words
First lines
The tenant of a bog, / An envious little frog, / Not bigger than an egg, / A stately bullock spies, / And, smitten with his size, / Attempts to be as big. / With earnestness and pains, / She stretches, swells, and strains, / And says, 'Sis Frog, look here! see me! / Is this enough? ' 'No, no. ' / 'Well, then, is this? ' 'Poh! poh! / Enough! you don't begin to be. ' / And thus the reptile sits, / Enlarging till she splits. / The world is full of folks / Of just such wisdom; -- / The lordly dome provokes / The cit to build his dome; / And, really, there is no telling / How much great men set little ones a swelling.[1]
Similar titles
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- The Two Mules by Jean De La Fontaine
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- The Grasshopper And The Ant by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Ass And The Lapdog by Esopo
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Genres
- Fable — The poem uses speaking animals, a brief illustrative plot, and an explicit moral about envy, vanity, and attempting to imitate those greater in status.
- Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is moral instruction: the frog's destruction teaches readers about the dangers of ambition beyond one's natural limits.
- Moral Tale — The narrative presents a clear cautionary lesson, condemning prideful comparison and social imitation through the frog's fatal example.
- Animal Fiction — Animal characters act and speak as humans, with the frog and ox representing recognizable human traits and social roles.
Tags
French fable · verse fable · seventeenth-century literature · moral allegory · animal characters · frog · bullock · bog setting · envy · ambition · vanity · pride
What this Textopian page supports
The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Fable
- Author: Jean de La Fontaine
- Date: 1668 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale, Animal Fiction, Allegory
- Length: 281 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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