The Two Frogs

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Summary

"The Two Frogs" is a Japanese folk tale included in The Violet Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang. Extremely short, it is a widely circulated public-domain English text. The story goes: in Japan there were two frogs, one living in a ditch in Sakai (given as Osaka in the original) near the sea, and the other in a clear stream in Kyoto. The two frogs did not know each other, yet both at once conceived the desire to go out and see the world. Traveling toward each other, they met on a hill halfway. Wanting to look down from the height at the city where the other lived, they stood up on their hind legs, rested their forepaws on each other's shoulders, and pointed their noses toward the places they were headed. But they forgot that frogs' eyes are in the back of their heads, so what they saw was actually the direction they had come from. As a result, both frogs concluded that "the city over there is exactly like my hometown and not worth another trip," parted ways, and went home, believing for the rest of their lives that Kyoto and Sakai were identical. With light humor, the story conveys the idea that seeing with your own eyes is not always reliable; the language is plain, making it suitable as material for beginning English reading and for the study of folk tales. This entry refers to the single story, not the entire fairy tale collection; if you encounter a bound volume, it is usually a collection of various short English pieces rather than a standalone full-length work.

Editor's review

一则三分钟就能读完的小故事，却把“观察与判断”这个不小的题目讲得妙趣横生。两只青蛙各怀乡愁与好奇出发，却在互相扶持站起来的瞬间，因为眼睛长在脑后而看错了方向，于是各自满意地打道回府。故事的幽默来自一个生理常识，道理却通向人类的偏狭：我们常常以为自己看到了远方，其实只是把脚下又看了一遍。作为英语读物，它的叙事简单、重复句式多、对话少而自然，非常适合初级读者建立“读完整篇英文故事”的成就感；作为民间故事，它提供了一个典型样本，可以对比不同版本中“两只青蛙”故事母题的异同。语言带一点旧式童话的从容语气，短句节奏叮当，朗读出来格外好听。合集中的公版文本通常没有注释，建议读者借助词典慢读一遍，再合上书用自己的话复述，收获会更大。

Who it's for

A good fit for

正在积累英语阅读量的初级学习者，故事短、生词少、易读完整
对民间故事、童话母题与跨文化比较感兴趣的读者
需要给孩子或课堂准备短篇英语朗读材料的老师与家长
想用碎片时间读一篇轻松短故事的休闲读者

Not a good fit for

期待长篇情节、人物成长与复杂冲突的小说读者
需要中文译注、生词讲解的零基础英语自学者（公版文本一般无注释）

Reading tips

先通读一遍抓大意，遇到生词先标记不要停下，读完再回头查词
第二遍出声朗读，体会童话口述式的短句节奏，可录音对比
读完后合上书，用三五句英文复述两只青蛙的误会在哪里
若对民间故事有兴趣，可再去对照不同版本的同名故事，看细节如何变化

FAQ

《The Two Frogs》是一本独立成书的书吗？

通常不是。它是一则极短的民间故事，常见于安德鲁·朗《紫色童话书》等童话集或英语短篇合集之中；市面上标着这个名字的单行本多为有声读物或小册子，并非完整长篇。

这个故事的原作者是谁？

安德鲁·朗（1844—1912）是苏格兰诗人、小说家，以搜集整理各国童话闻名。这则日本故事见于他编纂的《紫色童话书》，属于他转述整理的民间故事，而非个人原创小说。

故事讲的是伊索寓言里的那两只青蛙吗？

不是。伊索寓言中也有题为《两只青蛙》的篇目，讲干旱中两只青蛙面对深井的取舍，寓意“三思而后行”。本条指的是安德鲁·朗收录的日本故事，讲两只青蛙在山冈上望错方向。

英语难度大概如何？

属于入门偏上水平，句子以简单句和并列句为主，叙事连贯，生词有限；但公版文本用词略旧，偶有古雅表达，建议边读边查，读完基本不费力。

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About the author

Andrew Lang Author

Andrew Lang is an important figure in editing and compiling fairy tales and folk stories, though detailed information about his life is limited in publicly available Chinese sources. Four of his works are included here: The Red Fairy Book and The Blue Fairy Book from his "coloured fairy book" series, as well as The Red Romance Book and Historical Mysteries. These works show that he was skilled at collecting and retelling folk legends and fairy tales from various regions, with clear and fluent narratives, accessible language, and attention to preserving the oral tradition and imaginative quality of the stories. His fairy-tale anthologies have circulated widely and are often classified as inspirational coming-of-age reading, exercising a lasting influence on children's literature and the dissemination of folk tales in the English-speaking world.