There once was a green tree frog that never did what he was told. When his mother told him to jump, he would plant himself firmly into the mud, refusing to budge. When his mother told him to stay still, he would repeatedly jump as high as he could. This behavior continued all throughout the little frog’s childhood and on into his adolescent years, frustrating his poor mother, who eventually gave up on trying to tame her troublesome son.

A stubborn son

Her son’s misbehavior worried mother frog constantly, for she was well into old age and he still hadn’t cleaned up his act. Even when she was clearly exhausted and upset, her son would go north upon being told to go south and sleep upon being told to stay awake. “For just once, I wish he’d listen to me!” she would cry when alone. Such mischief particularly saddened her as she neared her final days, for you would think a son would, at the very least, listen to his mother during her last years of life. Surely enough, however, her son’s playful defiance persisted until her dying moments. It wasn’t that he was a bad frog; he simply liked mischief and found pleasure in doing the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do.



As the naughty frog watched his mother pass away, however, he felt a sudden pang of guilt at an entire lifetime of disobedience. Before passing away into the frog afterlife, mother frog used her last breath to ask her son to bury her near the riverbank, although she actually wanted to be buried in the mountains. She reasoned that because her son always did the exact opposite of what he was told, it’d be best to tell him to do the exact opposite of what she actually wanted. Unfortunately for her, the naughty frog had a change of heart upon hearing his mother’s last words, and decided that it was finally time to start behaving like a grown frog. Under the impression that he was being a good son, the naughty little frog buried his mother near the riverbank, although he thought it was a foolish idea to bury her in a place where she could get washed up by overflowing currents when it rains.

As he was laying her down in her final resting place, he thought, “I don’t understand why she didn’t ask to be buried in the mountains, but it’s her dying wish, and the least I can do is obey that.” Yet after he buried her, the naughty little frog lived in constant fear that his mother would be swept away by strong currents every time it rained. Consequently, whenever he sensed rain the naughty little frog would start crying, praying that the currents wouldn’t take his mother away.


Frogs and rain

This is a folktale that offers an entertaining explanation as to why frogs croak when it rains. The real reason, however, is that frogs and toads love moisture, and the humid conditions provided by rainfall offer them the perfect reason to come out and celebrate – or mate. Although the story has origins in China, it has become one of Korea’s most well-known tales, often told to children to discourage misbehavior and emphasize the importance of filial piety. In fact, misbehaving Korean children are often called tree frogs, something to keep in mind the next time you encounter a disobedient child.

Written by Felix Im
Illustrated by Shim Soo-keun

*The series of old Korean tales has been made possible with the cooperation with Korea Magazine.