Once there was a toad
Who loved a prince
With all his heart
No one knew why
And it did not matter
On hot, sticky days
The prince would bathe
In the toad’s pool
For the water there was pure
And the spring was refreshing
The toad would sit on his rock
Singing compliments to the prince
Joyful in his song
Happy merely to be
One day the prince asked, “Good toad,
Why do you praise me?”
The toad replied, “I praise you just for being.”
The prince was befuddled
He did not understand why one would do such a thing
And doubted the sincerity of the act
So testing the frog’s affection
The prince took the delicate creature in his hand
And flung it, away from the sanctuary
And when the toad returned to his perch
He sat down and began to sing praises to his prince
Amused, the prince said, “Good toad,
The air still vibrates with your love songs. Are you not angry?”
But the toad only carried on more passionately
Baffled, the prince asked, “Good toad, why do you sing for me?”
And the toad sang his answer, “I sing for the sake of singing”
The prince, still doubting the toad’s adoration
Took the toad and hurled him with all his might
Once again, returning to his place, battered and bruised,
The toad broke into melody.
And the prince was perplexed. So much so that he grew angry
For he did not understand the toad’s intentions
He demanded, “Toad, why do you love me?”
And in a kind voice the toad said, “I love you for the sake of loving.”
But that wasn’t enough.
So the prince took the toad far away to the desert
Abandoning him
But to his surprise, days later
The toad returned, blistered and weary
He sat down beside his pool and sighed
He ached from his tribulations
The prince could see his pain
And feeling accountable for the toad’s misery
He asked, “Pitiful toad, do you still love me?”
And the toad looked to the prince
His words turned to stone in his mouth
Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled into the pool
And the prince, realizing
The spring which had soothed him so often
Was borne out of the toad’s love for him
Was moved to tears himself
The prince didn’t quite understand the toad
But he knew his love was sincere
And with a new appreciation for the toad
He asked graciously, “Toad would you sing for me?”
And the toad did.
And no one knew why
And it did not matter.
Copyright 2005 Austerberto R. Palis, Jr.
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