Canada's Illusions of Grandeur

The Frog that Wished to Be as Big as the Ox

– Fable by Jean de La Fontaine –

The tenant of a bog,

An envious little frog,

Not bigger than an egg,

A stately bullock spies,

And, smitten with his size,

Attempts to be as big.

With earnestness and pains,

She stretches, swells, and strains,

And says, 'Sis Frog, look here! see me!

Is this enough?' 'No, no.'

'Well, then, is this?' 'Poh! poh!

Enough! you don't begin to be.'

And thus the reptile sits,

Enlarging till she splits.

The world is full of folks

Of just such wisdom; --

The lordly dome provokes

The cit to build his dome;

And, really, there is no telling

How much great men set little ones a swelling.

(Translated by Elizur Wright)