THE DINK FROG AND THE LOMBRICES*
(A Rainforest Fable)
Once upon a time, in a rainy season not too long ago, in a mud puddle not very far away, there lived a family of Lombrices and a particular frog named Dink. He got his name because he was a Dinkfrog who sang every night and made a sound like someone plunking on a metal pole with a stick. Dink, Dink, Dink.
At first, all was well and good. The rains came and went, and the frog was very comfortable in the puddle, and the Lombrices were quite comfortable, too. But night after night, while the Lombrices settled down into the mud for a nice long sleep, Dink would sit on the edge of the puddle and commence to sing his happy Dink song, “Dink, Dink, Dink.”
Soon, the family of Lombrices became very annoyed by this sound that Dink made. They complained to him every night. "We can't sleep at night because you make that awful noise all night long. Why don't you move to a different puddle and leave us in peace?"
But Dink liked the puddle he was in. It was just the right size and had just the right amount of muddy water for him to feel at home, and it just happened to be below the streetlamp so that between verses of his song, he could catch a bite to eat.
So, night after night, Dink continued to sing his happy Dink song. “Dink, Dink, Dink.” And the Lombrices continued to be irritated and mutter amongst themselves about how annoying that silly Dink frog was.
So one day, the Lombrices talked to the Sun God. They complained to Her that they could not sleep at night because that silly Dink frog was up all night singing silly Dink songs. The puddle obviously was not big enough for all of them! Was there anything that She could do to help them?
The Sun God was kind and thoughtful and suggested that perhaps the Lombrices might take advantage of the next rain storm to travel on down the road and find a different puddle to live in. But they resisted that idea and insisted that it should be the Dink Frog who should move on. After all, HE was the problem, not them!
The Sun God said there was one thing she could do. She would shine for days in a row and dry up the puddle so the Dink Frog would not want to stay in the puddle and would have to move to a different one.
So the Sun shone hotter than ever, and the puddle began to shrink. And with it, the family of Lombrices began to shrivel up and die. The Dink Frog noticed that the puddle was getting smaller and dryer, so he hopped away to find a new puddle to sing in.
Moral: Be careful what you ask for because it might not be the best thing for you (or the highest good for all). And if you are not willing to change yourself within a condition, when the condition changes, it may affect you in ways you were not counting on.
*Lombrices are microscopic parasitic worms that sometimes get into your system when you walk barefooted through mud puddles.
