Frog
In this brief satirical fable, Akutagawa imagines a pond full of frogs confidently declaring that the entire world exists for their benefit. One especially learned frog delivers a grand philosophical speech, arguing that water, earth, sky, sun, and all living things were made for frogs alone, and concludes with pious praise for the God who ordained it so. But the speech is cut short when a snake suddenly strikes. Even then, the frogs scramble to preserve their self-centered worldview. With sharp economy and dark humor, Akutagawa turns a simple animal scene into a critique of human vanity, complacent optimism, and the habit of forcing reality into flattering systems of thought.
Beside where I am lying now, there is an old pond, and in it are a great many frogs.
All around the pond, reeds and cattails grow thick in every direction. Beyond those reeds and cattails stands a row of tall poplars, swaying with graceful refinement in the wind. Beyond them again lies the quiet summer sky, where slender clouds, like splinters of glass, are always shining. And all of these are reflected in the pond’s water, far more beautifully than they are in reality.
In that pond the frogs spend the long day without ever tiring, croaking away: kororo, karara. To a casual listener, that is all it sounds like: merely kororo, karara. But in truth they are vigorously conducting a debate. It is not only in Aesop’s age that frogs can talk.
Among them, one frog perched on a reed leaf said, in the manner of a university professor:
“What is water for? It exists so that we frogs may swim in it. What are insects for? They exist so that we frogs may eat them.”
“Hear, hear! Hear, hear!” cried the frogs throughout the pond. Since the pond’s surface, reflecting sky and vegetation, was almost covered with frogs, the voices of approval were naturally tremendous. Just then a snake sleeping at the foot of a poplar tree woke up at the noisy chorus of kororo and karara. Raising its triangular head, it turned its eyes toward the pond and, still looking drowsy, licked its lips.
“What is the earth for? It exists to grow plants and trees. Then what are plants and trees for? They exist to give us frogs shade. Therefore, is not the whole earth for us frogs?”
“Hear, hear!”
When the snake heard this second burst of approval, it suddenly made its body taut like a whip. Then, slowly creeping into the reeds, it fixed its shining black eyes on the pond and carefully watched what was happening.
The frog on the reed leaf, meanwhile, still gaping its great mouth, went on arguing.
“What is the sky for? It exists to hang the sun in. And what is the sun for? It exists to dry the backs of us frogs. Therefore, is not the whole vast sky for us frogs? Water and plants and trees, insects and earth and sky and sun are all for us frogs. The fact that the whole universe exists entirely for our sake no longer leaves room for the slightest doubt. As I make this truth clear before you, gentlemen, I should also like to offer heartfelt thanks to the God who created the entire cosmos for our sake. Blessed be the name of God.”
The frog lifted its eyes to the sky, rolled one bulging eyeball around, and then, opening its great mouth again, said:
“Blessed be the name of God…”
Before the words were even finished, the snake’s head shot out as if hurled, and in an instant this eloquent frog was caught in its mouth.
“Karara, this is terrible!”
“Kororo, this is terrible!”
“Terrible! Karara, kororo!”
While the frogs throughout the pond screamed in alarm, the snake, still holding the frog in its mouth, disappeared into the reeds. The uproar that followed was probably unlike anything the pond had seen since the beginning of creation. Amid it all, I could hear a young frog crying out in a tearful voice:
“Water and plants and trees, insects and earth, sky and sun, all exist for us frogs. Then what about the snake? Does the snake also exist for us?”
“Yes. The snake, too, exists for us frogs. If snakes did not eat us, frogs would surely multiply. And if we multiplied, the pond, the world, would inevitably grow too small. That is why the snake comes to eat us frogs. A frog that is eaten should think of itself as a sacrifice offered for the happiness of the many. Yes, the snake too exists for us frogs. Every single thing in the world exists for frogs. Blessed be the name of God.”
That is the answer I heard from what sounded like an elderly frog.
(September, 1917)