Aesop’s Fables, THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING

THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING

Time was when the Frogs were discontented because they had no one to rule over them: so they sent a deputation to Jupiter to ask him to give them a King. Jupiter, despising the folly of their request, cast a log into the pool where they lived, and said that that should be their King. The Frogs were terrified at first by the splash, and scuttled away into the deepest parts of the pool; but by and by, when they saw that the log remained motionless, one by one they ventured to the surface again, and before long, growing bolder, they began to feel such contempt for it that they even took to sitting upon it. Thinking that a King of that sort was an insult to their dignity, they sent to Jupiter a second time, and begged him to take away the sluggish King he had given them, and to give them another and a better one. Jupiter, annoyed at being pestered in this way, sent a Stork to rule over them, who no sooner arrived among them than he began to catch and eat the Frogs as fast as he could.

THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING الضفادع تطلب ملكا

Time was when the Frogs were discontented because they had no one to rule over them: so they sent a deputation to Jupiter to ask him to give them a King. كان هناك وقت حيث كانت الضفادع غير راضية لأنه لم يكن لديهم أحد يحكمهم: لذلك أرسلوا وفدًا إلى جوبيتر ليطلبوا منه أن يمنحهم ملكًا. Il fut un temps où les grenouilles, mécontentes de n'avoir personne pour les gouverner, envoyèrent une délégation à Jupiter pour lui demander de leur donner un roi. Jupiter, despising the folly of their request, cast a log into the pool where they lived, and said that that should be their King. احتقر جوبيتر حماقة طلبهم، فألقى جذع شجرة في البركة التي يعيشون فيها، وقال إن هذا يجب أن يكون ملكهم. Jupiter, méprisant la folie de leur demande, jeta une bûche dans l'étang où ils vivaient et déclara qu'elle serait leur roi. The Frogs were terrified at first by the splash, and scuttled away into the deepest parts of the pool; but by and by, when they saw that the log remained motionless, one by one they ventured to the surface again, and before long, growing bolder, they began to feel such contempt for it that they even took to sitting upon it. لقد خافت الضفادع في البداية من تناثر الماء، واندفعت بعيدًا إلى أعمق أجزاء البركة؛ ولكن مع مرور الوقت، عندما رأوا أن السجل ظل بلا حراك، غامروا بالخروج إلى السطح مرة أخرى، وبعد فترة وجيزة، أصبحوا أكثر جرأة، وبدأوا يشعرون بمثل هذا الازدراء له حتى أنهم بدأوا في الجلوس عليه. Thinking that a King of that sort was an insult to their dignity, they sent to Jupiter a second time, and begged him to take away the sluggish King he had given them, and to give them another and a better one. ولما ظنوا أن ملكاً من هذا النوع قد يكون إهانة لكرامتهم، أرسلوا إلى جوبيتر مرة ثانية، وتوسلوا إليه أن يأخذ الملك البطيء الذي أعطاهم إياه، وأن يعطيهم ملكاً آخر أفضل. Jupiter, annoyed at being pestered in this way, sent a Stork to rule over them, who no sooner arrived among them than he began to catch and eat the Frogs as fast as he could. انزعج جوبيتر من مضايقته بهذه الطريقة، فأرسل طائر اللقلق ليحكمهم، والذي ما إن وصل إليهم حتى بدأ في اصطياد الضفادع وأكلها بأسرع ما يمكن.