The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox
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With my caching partners, we tried to make the cache “containers” fun to find for the whole family. All of them are a few steps only from the trail so that they are easy for little ones to get to. You’ll be looking for a character or object from the fable featured in the cache description, so read the title carefully and have fun! Also, bring a pencil or a pen. Enjoy!
CONGRATS to the LITTLE BUMS (of Burder Bums) on FTF!
As a kid, my favorite stories were some of Jean de La Fontaine’s fables. This series presents some of his better-known stories, and some of the ones that fascinated me the most as a child.
La Fontaine was one of the most read French poets of the 17th century. The fables presented here were first published in 1668, and, for most, adapted from classical fabulists such as Aesop.
The moral to the story…
Even if the fables were not meant to be children’s stories when La Fontaine wrote them, they were seen as a great way to teach kids important lessons: to not be greedy or vain, to work hard, to not underestimate the importance of people or things, to think of the consequences of their actions, etc.
For me, they were just beautifully told.
I hope these caches make you discover – or rediscover – great stories to share with little ones!
The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox
(Jean de La Fontaine, book 1, fable 3 - translation by Elizur Wright*)
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.
*Jean de La Fontaine. Fables of La Fontaine (translation by Elizur Wright). (Charleston) : BiblioBazaar. 2007.
La grenouille qui veut se faire aussi grosse que le bœuf
(Jean de La Fontaine, livre 1, fable 3)
Une grenouille vit un bœuf
Qui lui sembla de belle taille.
Elle, qui n'était pas grosse en tout comme un œuf,
Envieuse, s'étend, et s'enfle et se travaille,
Pour égaler l'animal en grosseur,
Disant: « Regardez bien, ma soeur;
Est-ce assez? dites-moi: n'y suis-je point encore?
Nenni- M'y voici donc? -Point du tout. M'y voilà?
-Vous n'en approchez point. » La chétive pécore
S'enfla si bien qu'elle creva.
Le monde est plein de gens qui ne sont pas plus sages.
Tout bourgeois veut bâtir comme les grands seigneurs,
Tout prince a des ambassadeurs,
Tout marquis veut avoir des pages.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zef. Sebt vf fvggvat ba n zbffl ebpx ng gur obggbz bs n gerr.