How did Frog's back become rough?

A bat was quietly eating fruits of a tree one day. It was mid afternoon. There was no sight of any movement or other animals. Then suddenly breaking the silence came the croaking of a frog. It startled the bat so much that it flapped its wings and flew away. A squirrel eating a walnut nearby was scared by the flapping of wings and dropped its walnut – onto the back of a deer. The deer in turn got scared and ran away to the jungle and broke a thin bamboo. The broken bamboo fell down on the leg of a crab and broke it into two. Maddened by pain, the crab bit the tail of a snake. The snake to relieve its pain ate all the eggs of a tuni bird.

The Tuni bird was so dejected that it flew around aimlessly for a while and then started gathering a crowd to punish the guilty. A huge gathered and they decided to try the case. The snake was called. The snake gave its defence, "I am not guilty. It's only because the crab bit my tail that I ate the eggs." The crab was called. It said, "It's because the bamboo broke my leg that I bit the snake in pain." So, the bamboo was called and it said, "It's only because the deer broke me that I fell down on the crab's leg." The deer said, "The walnut fell out of the blue on my back. I got scared and so I ran in fear and accidentally I broke the bamboo." The walnut was called and it said, "The squirrel dropped me from the tree and the deer was directly underneath me." The squirrel was called and it said, "I dropped the walnut because the bat flapped its wings and I got scared.", and so the bat was called. The bat said, "I am not guilty at all. I was eating my fruit quietly and suddenly this frog croaks his hideous croak, utters guttural sounds and I got scared and so flew away as fast as possible." So the crowd came to know – the real culprit in the story, the cause for all the effects was the frog.

The frog was brought in front of the crowd; its four legs tied to a log. The frog was announced guilty in the case. The punishment was to pour hot charcoals on the back of the frog. And so it was, red hot charcoals burnt half the smooth back of the frog and it ran away and jumped into the water. From then onwards, frogs' backs are rough.

This is a cumulative tale as it has a chained story and one incident is interrelated to one another. The moral of the tale, according to Mrs. Paneswari doley, ratanpur, Jonai, Dhemaji, is that we should be self-disciplined and always be careful about our deeds. We should be careful whatever we do because our works or actions can harm others unconsciously.

Source~

Book- Role of mising folk tales and folk songs in developing moral values among children a critical study.

Researcher: Doley Pritilata Pegu

Guide: Boro Anil Kumar

Link- http://hdl.handle.net/10603/72266