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got loose and fell down, down, down into a small hidden pool on the tableland
of the Yips. Now that pool, it seems, was unknown to the Yips because it was
surrounded by thick bushes and was not near to any dwelling, and it proved
to be an enchanted pool, for the frog grew very fast and very big, feeding on
the magic skosh which is found nowhere else on earth except in that one pool.
And the skosh not only made the frog very big so that when he stood on his
hind legs he was as tall as any Yip in the country, but it made him unusually
intelligent, so that he soon knew more than the Yips did and was able to
reason and to argue very well indeed.
No one could expect a frog with these talents to remain in a hidden pool, so he
finally got out of it and mingled with the people of the tableland, who were
amazed at his appearance and greatly impressed by his learning. They had
never seen a frog before, and the frog had never seen a Yip before, but as there
were plenty of Yips and only one frog, the frog became the most important. He
did not hop any more, but stood upright on his hind legs and dressed himself
in fine clothes and sat in chairs and did all the things that people do, so he
soon came to be called the Frogman, and that is the only name he has ever
had. After some years had passed, the people came to regard the Frogman as
their adviser in all matters that puzzled them. They brought all their
difficulties to him, and when he did not know anything, he pretended to know
it, which seemed to answer just as well. Indeed, the Yips thought the
Frogman was much wiser than he really was, and he allowed them to think
so, being very proud of his position of authority.
There was another pool on the tableland which was not enchanted but
contained good, clear water and was located close to the dwellings. Here the
people built the Frogman a house of his own, close to the edge of the pool so
that he could take a bath or a swim whenever he wished. He usually swam in
the pool in the early morning before anyone else was up, and during the day
he dressed himself in his beautiful clothes and sat in his house and received
the visits of all the Yips who came to him to ask his advice. The Frogman's
usual costume consisted of knee-breeches made of yellow satin plush, with
trimmings of gold braid and jeweled knee-buckles; a white satin vest with
silver buttons in which were set solitaire rubies; a swallow-tailed coat of bright
yellow; green stockings and red leather shoes turned up at the toes and
having diamond buckles. He wore, when he walked out, a purple silk hat and
carried a gold-headed cane. Over his eyes he wore great spectacles with gold
rims, not because his eyes were bad, but because the spectacles made him
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