The Tale of King Frosch

Once upon an imagination, in a place some distance from here, and yet somehow near, past the great green field and beyond the evergrow tulips, there lived a frog named King Frosch.

King Frosch was the leader of the frogs in the pond.  Every day he would gather all the frogs together on the shore and demand that they bring him food to eat.  “I’m hungry!” he would scream, and the other frogs would rush to bring him food.  This occurred multiple times daily.

To find so much food, the frogs would scour the surrounding forest and meadow, and when those supplies ran out they would send one or two of their swiftest jumpers and head over to the human market in town.  There, they could snatch some food from the vendors when no one was looking.  It was a dangerous job, but it sufficed.

As a result of King Frosch’s tyranny, the rest of the frogs were very glad for every winter when it became time to hibernate.  They were all glad for some much needed rest from all the hard work of pleasing King Frosch.

One winter, in the middle of the night while all of the frogs were hibernating, King Frosch suddenly bellowed out, “I’m hungry!”  Nobody stirred.  They hoped it was just a bad dream. King Frosch cried out again, “I’m hungry!!!”  A couple frogs moved in their beds, and the rest of them knew then that there was no escaping King Frosch.  “Come feed me now!!” he screamed.

And so the rest of the frogs rose from their sleep to find a way to feed King Frosch.  This was no easy task, as the area was covered in snow and ice. No nearby brush would provide any sustenance.  The only things not hibernating or dormant were various sharp-eyed predators desperately searching the cold night for a good meal.

After much deliberation with the shouts of King Frosch in the background, the frogs decided to attempt the market in town, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night.

So two brave frogs made their way through the wintry dark and hopped toward the market.  The market was quite empty at this time of night, as all the people were snuggled away in their warm houses and beds.  All the market stalls were closed.  Still, the frogs managed to find a cluster of frozen grapes outside the house of the local winemaker.

They brought some of the grapes back to King Frosch, who eyed them carefully before partaking.  He had never eaten a frozen grape before.  The whole community of frogs watched nervously as King Frosch popped a grape into his mouth.  He sucked on the grape for a few moments, and then chewed and swallowed.

“How delicious!” he said.  “More!”

And so King Frosch ate all the frozen grapes that the frogs had brought him.  For the time being, he was satisfied and went back to sleep.  The rest of the frogs, much relieved, went to find their own beds.  However, their relief only lasted for one day.  The next night, King Frosch woke again and demanded more food.  Wearily, the two frogs from the night before journeyed to obtain more frozen grapes.

Trudging through the snow on the way back, one of the frogs got the idea to try one of the frozen grapes to see if it was any good, seeing as how King Frosch had quite enjoyed the grapes.  The frog very much enjoyed the frozen grape as well.

“You know,” said the frog, “we could make some good money selling these grapes.”

“You’re right!” said the other frog.  “We could sell them at the market for a good profit, and then we could buy as much food as we need to satisfy King Frosch.  Neither he nor us would ever be hungry again!”

Happy with their immense discovery and business plan, the frogs returned to King Frosch.  They first gave him the grapes, and then they told him their idea.  King Frosch liked both.

So when spring arrived, King Frosch set his frogs to work developing a flash freeze machine and locating a sustainable supply of grapes.  They soon accomplished both of these things and took their product to market.  The product was initially met with varied success, but it nonetheless created enough revenue to provide the frogs with an abundant food supply.

Things really took off when a young entrepreneurial investor from New Jersey visited the small town market and discovered frozen grapes.  He thought to himself, “What if I froze grape juice around a small wooden stick?”

And that, boys and girls, is how we came to have grape-flavored popsicles.

The end.

Also, the frogs lived happily ever after under the tyranny of King Frosch.