Toturi's Army Letter #12
There is a story I was told by an old man, the day we went to attack the Moon. I spoke to him of my lord, and he sensed my cowardice. I am ashamed to admit that, but it is true. We cannot defeat a god. I listened to the war cries of the Unicorn and to the screams of the Crab who were braced to charge the gate, and I knew myself for a coward.
For nearly thirty years, I have been one.
Once there was, the old man told me, an Empire made entirely of frogs. They lived by the side of a massive pond, and they lived in peace. The only dangers were of accident and age, and death was rare.
Yet, in the woods to the north, there was a great pit, and two young frogs fell into that hole. Their companions looked down into the pit and shouted to them, "It is too deep! You will never jump out!"
But the two frogs jumped, and jumped, and leapt until their legs grew sore. Still they could not reach the lip of the hole.
"Stop jumping!" cried the others. "It is finished. Accept your fate with dignity, and let the Fortunes have your soul!"
Still they jumped and jumped, trying to escape. But the pit was too deep, and still the frogs failed.
"Enough!" cried the others, looking down. "Stop jumping! You have failed, and you are as good as dead."
And then, one of the two frogs in the pit stopped jumping, and he curled his legs beneath him. "They are right," he said. "We are doomed." With that, he died.
The other jumped, and leapt, and tried again. Each time, he jumped a bit higher, until at last, with a heroic effort, he reached the lip of the pit and was free.
"How did you do that?" The other frogs crowded around him. "It was an impossible task!"
"What?" said the escaped frog. "I cannot hear what you are saying. I am deaf, you see."
And it was true.
But this is more: when he saw the others yelling from above, he thought they were encouraging him.
-Saigorei