ONE day, the hare, thinking of his miserable life, decided to put an end to it. "What is my life worth to me?" he said to himself, sighing heavily. "The dogs tear me, the wolves cat me, the eagles claw me, the man hunts me. I have no peace, no rest, everybody is against me and wishes to take my life. I had better go and drown myself, and then there will be an end to my miseries." So speaking, he got up and went to the neighbouring lake to drown himself in the water.
As he drew near he saw a number of frogs sitting by the water. When they saw the hare coming up, they got frightened and jumped into the water, some of them getting drowned in it. When the hare saw that he had frightened the frogs to such an extent that he caused a number of them to jump into the water and to get drowned, he stopped short and said, "If there are creatures whom I can frighten, then surely even I am not the weakest of all, as I had hitherto thought." Comforted by this thought, he returned to his form.
