The Tale of "Moju"

Friends, here is a new story for children. Regards, Debanjan

Come darlings.

Let me tell you the story of Moju, the magical frog, today.

Our story opens with Montu, a small seven-year-old boy, struggling with his umbrella. It was almost twice the size of this seven-year-old child!

Now, why should a small kid carry his dad’s royal-size umbrella? For one thing, Montu was too small in his mother’s eyes to be given his own umbrella. He, therefore, always used his brother’s or his mother’s umbrella instead. They were handy to use.

Today, as Montu was about to start for his school, with his school bus due in another ten minutes, his mom called out, “Take an umbrella with you, dear. The sky is overcast, and it may start raining before you reach your school.”

Montu, therefore, grabbed the nearest umbrella (though oversized) from the rack and literally ran lest he get late for his school bus. By the time the bus reached his school, the skies had opened up.

It was quite a long journey (for a small boy that is) under the open sky from the bus to the school building through a paved courtyard. Montu was left with no option but try to open his umbrella. Alas, just as he opened it, it blew itself into an inverted U-shape due to the strong wind.

A tiny green frog with blue spots, wearing oversized spectacles, was seated in a nearby puddle formed by rainwater. It used to live on the edge of a pond near the school boundary wall.

It took pity on the boy and cried out, “My boy, what a big umbrella you are carrying! If you give it to me, I will give you my smaller umbrella. It is the right size for you, and you can use it happily. From your face, I can tell you are a nice boy. And I live near the pond just outside your school.”

Now, this was no ordinary frog. No, not at all. Rather, this was a wise frog that could not only speak in a human voice but read human characters as well.

“Thank you so much, dear. I am getting late for my class. I will meet you in recess. We shall then do the exchange,” replied a rushing Montu with a smile of gratitude. He, too, did not question if a frog could speak. He just believed it. That is the difference between a child and an adult.

Another boy, Ravi, had also overheard this conversation, however. He was naughty to the core and thought that since this frog was wearing such big-sized spectacles, he must be really shortsighted and could not make out faces.

Immediately, he hatched a plan and, in the recess hour, rushed to the pond. There, he presented himself to Moju and said, “Hey, I am Montu. Give me your umbrella. And take mine.”

Saying this, he handed over a ramshackle umbrella he had just picked up from the room of the school guard before meeting Moju.

Moju, the wise, had already seen through Ravi’s trick. He meekly said, “Very well, my friend. Here is a nice umbrella in exchange.”

My goodness! What's this?

The moment Ravi shot out his hand, he cried with terror! Because the handle of his new umbrella was not made of either wood or plastic. No, it was a live snake!

He just ran for his life.

Uff!

After a while, Montu came with the genuine article and received his prize in exchange.

It was such a handsome umbrella, I tell you. It had a green body with red stripes and yellow dots, and it was just the right size to carry to his school daily. His face just beamed with happiness!

Darrlings, let us therefore always follow the right path in life.

See you with another story, soon. Goodbye and God bless, dears.
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