Арнольд Лобел: Frog and Toad / Квак и Жаб. 3-4 классы

Frog was in his garden. Toad came to visit.

“What a nice garden you have, Frog,” he said.

“Yes,” said Frog. “It is very nice, but it was very hard work.”

“I want to have a garden, too,” said Toad.

“Here are some flower seeds. Plant them in the ground,” said Frog, “and soon you will have a garden.”

“How soon?” asked Toad.

“Very soon,” said Frog.

Toad ran home. He planted the flower seeds.

“Now seeds,” said Toad, “start growing.”

Toad walked around them a few times. The seeds did not start to grow.

Toad put his head to the ground and said loudly, “Now seeds, start growing!”

Toad looked at the ground again. The seeds did not start to grow.

Toad put his head to the ground and shouted “NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!”

Frog came to Toad.

“What is this noise?” he asked.

“My seeds do not want to grow,” said Toad.

“You shout too loudly,” said Frog. “These poor seeds are afraid to grow.”

“My seeds are afraid to grow?” asked Toad.

“Of course,” said Frog. “Leave them alone for a few days. Let the sun shine on them, let the rain fall on them. Soon your seeds will start to grow.”

That night Toad looked out of his window.

“Oh, no!” said Toad. “My seeds still do not want grow. Maybe they are afraid of the dark.”

Toad went to his garden with some candles.

“I will read my seeds a story,” said Toad. “Then they will not be afraid.”

Toad read a long story to his seeds.

All the next day Toad sang songs to his seeds.

And all the next day Toad read poems to his seeds.

And all the next day Toad played music for his seeds.

Toad looked at the ground. The seeds still did not start to grow.

“What shall I do?” cried Toad. “These are the most frightened seeds in the world!”

Toad was very tired, and he went to sleep.

“Toad, Toad, wake up,” said Frog. “Look at your garden!”

Toad looked at his garden. Little green plants were growing out of the ground.

“At last!” shouted Toad. “My seeds are not afraid to grow!”

“And now you will have a nice garden too,” said Frog. “It was very hard work.”

Toad made some cookies.

“These cookies smell very good,” said Toad. He ate one. “And they taste very good, too,” he said.

Toad ran to Frog’s house. “Frog, Frog,” cried Toad, “taste these cookies that I made.”

Frog ate one cookie.

“These are the best cookies in the world!” said Frog.

So Frog and Toad ate many cookies.

“You know, Toad,” said Frog, eating a cookie, “I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick.”

“You are right,” said Toad. “Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop.” Frog and Toad ate one last cookie.

There were still many cookies left.

“Frog,” said Toad, “let us eat one very last cookie, and then we will stop.”

Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie.

“We must stop eating!” cried Toad, eating another cookie.

“Yes,” said Frog, eating another cookie too, “we need will power.”

“What is will power?” asked Toad.

“Will power is trying hard not to do something that you really want to do,” said Frog.

Frog put the cookies in a box.

“Now,” he said, “we will not eat any more cookies.”

“But we can open the box,” said Toad.

“That is true,” said Frog.

Frog put the box on a high shelf.

“Now,” said Frog, “we will not eat any more cookies.”

“But we can take the box from the shelf and open the box,” said Toad.

“That is true,” said Frog.

Frog took the box from the shelf and opened it. Then he took the box outside. He shouted loudly, “BIRDS! HERE ARE COOKIES!”

Birds came from everywhere. They took all the cookies and flew away.

“Now we have no more cookies to eat,” said Toad sadly.

“Yes,” said Frog, “but we have a lot of will power.”

“You can have all the will power, Frog,” said Toad. “But I am going home now to make a cake.”

Frog and Toad read a book together.

“The people in this book are brave,” said Toad. “They fight dragons and giants, and they are never afraid!”

“Are we brave too?” asked Frog.

Frog and Toad looked into a mirror.

“We look brave,” said Frog.

“Yes, but are we?” asked Toad.

Frog and Toad went outside.

“We can climb this mountain,” said Frog. “That will tell us if we are brave.”

Frog jumped over rocks, and Toad jumped behind him. They came to a dark cave. A big snake came out of the cave.

“Hello lunch,” said the snake when he saw Frog and Toad. He opened his big mouth. Frog and Toad jumped away.

Toad was shaking. “I am not afraid!” he cried.

They went higher, and they heard a loud noise. Many big stones were rolling down the mountain.

“It’s an avalanche!” cried Toad.

Frog and Toad jumped away.

Frog was shaking. “I am not afraid!” he cried.

They came to the top of the mountain. There was a hawk above them. Frog and Toad jumped under a rock. The hawk flew away.

“We are not afraid!” cried Frog and Toad together.

Then they ran down the mountain very fast. They ran all the way to Toad’s house.

“Frog, I am glad to have a brave friend like you,” said Toad. He jumped into the bed and pulled the blanket over his head.

“And I am happy to have a brave friend like you, Toad,” said Frog. He jumped into the closet and shut the door.

Toad stayed in the bed, and Frog stayed in the closet. They stayed there for a long time, feeling very brave together.

Toad was asleep, and he had a dream. He was on a stage, and he was in a costume. Toad looked into the dark. Frog was sitting in the theatre.

A strange voice said, “PRESENTING THE GREATEST TOAD IN THE WORLD!”

Toad bowed.

Frog looked small as he shouted, “Hooray for Toad!”

“TOAD WILL NOW PLAY THE PIANO VERY WELL,” said the strange voice.

Toad played the piano, and he did not miss a note.

“Frog,” cried Toad, “can you play the piano like this?”

“No,” said Frog.

Now Frog looked even smaller.

“TOAD WILL NOW WALK ON A HIGH WIRE, AND HE WILL NOT FALL DOWN,” said the voice.

Toad walked on the high wire.

“Frog,” cried Toad, “can you do tricks like this?”

“No,” answered Frog, who looked very, very small.

“TOAD WILL NOW DANCE, AND HE WILL BE WONDERFUL,” said the voice.

“Frog, can you dance like me?” said Toad as he danced wonderfully on the stage.

There was no answer.

Toad looked into the theatre. Frog was so small that he could not see or hear him anymore.

“Frog, where are you?” cried Toad.

Then the voice said: “THE GREATEST TOAD WILL NOW…”

“Shut up!” cried Toad. “Frog, Frog, where ARE YOU?”

Toad was now in the dark.

“Come back, Frog,” he cried. “I will be lonely!”

“I am here,” said Frog.

Frog was standing near Toad’s bed.

“Wake up, Toad,” he said.

“Frog, is that really you?” asked Toad.

“Yes, I think so,” said Frog.

Toad looked at the sun shining outside.

“Frog,” he said, “I am so glad that you are here.”

“I always am,” said Frog.

Then Frog and Toad ate a big breakfast. And after that they had a fine, long day together.