Once upon a time near the edge of a deep swamp there were three rather large frogs. The frogs lived an idyllic life. There were plenty of delicious insects to eat and the swamp was always hot, dark, and wet; just the way frogs like things. These particular frogs also enjoyed possession of a huge, deep pool of thick, gray mud, which they could sail out into in little boats whenever danger threatened. No snake or crocodile would ever dare venture out into the mud puddle just to catch a frog, for it was really quicksand and would swallow up any predator so foolish.

Now the first frog was very fat and equally as lazy. He saw no reason to do any work that was not absolutely necessary. He spent all his time sitting in a tiny patch of sunlight on a fallen log, turning his back a darker shade of green. His boat was made of a clump of straw he just happened to find one day near the edge of the mire.

Ah, lucky me," he had said at the time. "If you wait long enough, work takes care of itself."

The second frog was even fatter and lazier than the first, and refused to build a boat even of straw.

"You'll be eaten alive," he was told.

"No," he always responded. "All the predators know that all us frogs have boats and can hide in the middle of the mud pit. I have no need for a boat of my own as long as everyone else has one because the snakes and crocodiles know better than to waste their time here. If any threat does come along I'll just sail out into the mud pool on a lilly pad."

The third frog was neither fat nor lazy. He was a hard worker who never stopped thinking, planning, and building. Most everyone thought he was really a workaholic but down deep they admitted they admired his industriousness. This frog spent a long time constructing a boat out of cement. Everyone in the swamp, especially the other frogs, laughed themselves silly when they saw what he was doing.

"That'll never work," they taunted. "Cement is too heavy....your boat will sink right to the bottom the instant it's launched....Ha Ha!, Hey, Hey!....What a fool."

But when the cement boat was finally launched into the pool of mud, everyone was astonished that it did not sink. Its hollowed out shape kept it afloat. And it was the biggest boat anyone had ever seen.

One day a hunter came to the part of the swamp where the three frogs lived. The hunter was after frogs, which he sold to restaurants in the big city. He wanted big frogs that had legs with lots of meat, and he had heard about some really fat frogs in the area.

The hunter, whose name was B.B. Wolfe, came to the part of the mud pit where the first frog lived. The frog saw him coming, of course, and immediately jumped into his straw boat. Paddling once or twice with his powerful legs he quickly sailed out into the center of the mire.

The hunter saw what the frog had done and laughed heartily.

"Silly frog....you think you can escape me on a boat of straw....Ha, Ha!....I'll soon have you in my basket....I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your little boat all the way to the side of this quagmire. Then I'll catch you."

With that the hunter drew in a great breath and blew. A great wind blew across the surface of the mud and the little straw boat began to move rapidly toward shore, near where the second frog lived.

As the hunter made his way around the huge mud pit, the first and second frog were very frightened but did not give up. The second frog jumped on a lilly pad and headed for the center of the mud pit. The first frog did the same.

When the hunter saw they had escaped in this way he just laughed.

"You can't escape me on a lilly pad," he chuckled. "I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow both your lilly pad boats across to the other side....Then I'll have you both."

So the hunter did just that. He drew in huge breathes of air and blew. It took several breathes but soon the two frogs were moving across the bog, on their way to the far side and then to a dinner plate in the city.

The third frog was alert, as always, and saw what was happening. He hadn't enjoyed the taunting of the other frogs when he was building his cement boat, but he was not so displeased that he wanted them to be someone's dinner. He launched his cement boat and sailed slowly out toward the oncoming lilly pads. The first two frogs jumped onto the cement boat just in time to avoid getting too close to the shore.

When the hunter saw what had happened he was delighted.

"Ah, now I have three frogs trapped....One isn't as fat as the others but three will certainly pay for my trip here."

The hunter moved around to a point closest to the three frogs.

"Now I have you," he boasted. "You think your boats will save you but you're wrong. I'll just huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your boat across the mud....Then I'll have three frogs to sell."

And the hunter did just that. He drew in a deep breath and blew a great wind across the surface of the mire. But cement is very heavy and the cement boat sat very low in the mud. It did not budge. The hunter drew in another great breath and blew again. Again and again he blew until he himself was blue in the face, but the boat would not move. Each time he blew the first two frogs shuddered in fear, but the third frog was confident.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll be safe."

But the hunter was not finished. He had another plan.

"I'll get you frogs yet," he roared. "You can't escape."

The hunter spotted a knobby projection on one end of the cement boat and it gave him an idea. Reaching into his pack he pulled out a coil of rope. He tied one end around himself and made a lasso with the other end. Adjusting the lasso to be slightly larger than the knobby projection he spun the lasso in the air to keep it open.

"I'll just lasso your boat and pull all three of you over here. You'll go straight into my basket."

With that he threw the rope over the knobby projection and pulled it tight.

"We're done for now," said the first frog.

"You and your cement boat, "said the second from. "We'll be dinner by sunset."

But the third frog remained calm. Reaching down into the bottom of the boat he pulled up three bundles of straw and threw them over the side.

"Lifeboats," he said. "I try to plan for all contingencies."

The other frogs were awestricken at their friend's depth of planning, but still very fearful. Straw boats, after all, had already failed once.

"Now, all three of us at once, jump for the lifeboats....Ready....Jump!"

All three frogs jumped at once to the straw boats. The force of the unified jump was just enough to tip the edge of the cement boat below the surface. Instantly, it filled with mud and plunged down into the mire. In just a second the rope was pulled tight and the hunter was pulled into the mud. The hunter followed the boat down into the mud so quickly he barely had time to scream before he was covered over completely, never to be seen again.

And the morals of this story are:

Always catch frogs one at a time.

Stay away from frogs with bogs.

Sometimes a cement boat can become a submarine.