continued uttering his voice in a heart-rending cadence and assumed himself to
be a nightingale of a thousand melodies.
At that time the Mouse was engaged in chanting in a corner of his cell. Directly
he heard the uproarious yelling of the Frog he was astounded, and came out with
the intention of taking a look at the reciter; and while occupied with listening to
him, kept smiting his hands together and shaking his head. These gestures,
which seemed to display approbation, pleased the Frog and he made advances
toward acquaintance with him. In short, being mutually pleased with each other,
they became inseparable companions, and used to narrate to each other
entertaining stories and tales.
One day the Mouse said to the Frog: "I am oftentimes desirous of disclosing to
thee a secret and recounting to thee a grief which I have at heart, and at that
moment thou art abiding under the water. However much I shout thou nearest
me not, owing to the noise of the water, and in spite of my crying to thee, the
sound cannot reach thee, because of the clamour of the other frogs. We must
devise some means by which thou mayest know when I come to the brink of the
water, and thus mayest be informed of my arrival without my shouting to thee."
The Frog said: "Thou speakest the truth. I, too, have often pondered uneasily,
thinking, should my friend come to the brink of the water, how shall I, at the
bottom of this fountain, learn his arrival? And it sometimes happens that I, too,
come to the mouth of thy hole, and thou hast gone out from another side, and I
have to wait long. I had intended to have touched somewhat on this subject
before, but now the arrangement of it rests with thee."
The Mouse replied: "I have got hold of the thread of a plan, and it appears to me
the best thing to get a long string, and to fasten one end to thy foot, and tie the
other tight around my own, in order that when I come to the water's edge and
shake the string, thou mayest know what I want; and if thou, too, art so kind as
to come to the door of my cell, I may also get information by thy jerking the
string." Both parties agreed to this, and the knot of friendship was in this manner
firmly secured, and they were also kept informed of one another's condition. One
day, the Mouse came to the water's edge to seek the Frog, in order to renew their
friendly converse. All of a sudden a Crow, like an unforeseen calamity, flew
down from the air, and snatching up the Mouse, soared aloft, with him. The
string which was tied to the leg of the Mouse drew forth the Frog from the
bottom of the water, and, as the other leg was fastened to the Frog's leg, he was