Sep 10 2006
The Tadpole And The Trout
A German man told this fable to me during a long cross-country flight. This tale was told to him by a spiritual advisor to illustrate the heartbreak that can happen to people who marry too young. I love this story. The best ones are simple.
Here is my recollection.
There was once a tadpole and a trout that lived together in a pond. They met and fell in love. They loved each other very much. The tadpole, as was its nature, grew legs, changing into a frog. The frog’s heart was unchanged – all the love for the trout was still contained within.
But the frog’s metamorphosis allowed the frog to leave the pond, and this is what it wanted to do. The frog said to the trout, “I’d like to leave the pond, please join me on my journey.”
The trout loved the frog just as much as it had loved it when it was a tadpole. But the trout was still a trout. It could not leave the pond.
The frog had no choice but to hop out of the pond, leaving the trout behind.
What is beautiful about this tale is that there is no blame attached. The trout and the frog are true to their love for each other, as well as to their natures.