One morning, perched on the biggest lily pad in the whole pond, Frog puffed out his chest and bellowed, "Croak-croak! There isn't one frog in this pond bigger than me!" His two friends glanced at each other and giggled.
Then suddenly — THUD… THUD… THUD! The ground shook as a hippo came wading into the pond — huge as a hill! One friend leaned in and whispered, "So you're the biggest, are you? Next to him you're no more than a mustard seed!"
But Frog was far too stubborn to care. He sucked in a great big breath — pfff! "Just watch — I can get that big too!" The hippo lowered his head, eyes gentle. "Let it be, little friend. A frog is a fine thing to be!"
Frog gulped in another breath — whoosh! Bigger… bigger… BIGGER he swelled, until his belly was a little round balloon. "Stop — don't puff up any more!" cried one friend. But pride wouldn't let him stop.
And can you guess what happened next? Just then — PFFFFFT! Out rushed all the air in a single instant! Flat as a leaf, Frog slid clean off the lily pad — splat — right into the mud!
Evening came down. Sitting there in the mud, Frog wouldn't lift his face — all shrunk small now, tears trembling at the corners of his eyes. Across the pond, only a soft lap… lap… of water. Nobody said a word.
Then the hippo dipped his great head down, ever so gently, and lifted Frog up onto his broad nose. "Being big was never about puffing up. Just as you are — that's when you're at your very best." And in the moonlight, Frog gave a small, shy smile.