Peter Luykx 

JENNY AND HOP

 

   In the rushes along the edge of a large pond not far from a small village, there once lived two toads named Hop and Jenny. Hop and Jenny Toad spent their days catching flies for breakfast and lunch, and moths for dinner. Sometimes they shared a plate of worms for dessert.

They had exactly one hundred tadpole children, who lived in the water at the edge of the pond near the tall rushes.

   At the far side of the pond, in an elegant green castle partially hidden among especially tall rushes, there dwelt the Great Toad Witch Queen and her little Toad King and their little toad tadpoles.

 

   One day the Great Toad Witch Queen said, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the most tadpoles of all?” The Great Toad Witch Queen was a proud queen.

   In the glass of the mirror appeared the two toads who lived in the rushes with their hundred tadpole children. Said the mirror, “O Queen, of tadpoles you have quite a few, but Hop and Jenny have many more than you.”

   “There must be something wrong with that mirror,” thought the Queen. “Let me try the one in the bathroom.” But the bathroom mirror said, “O Queen, a great queen you surely are, but Jenny has more tadpoles by far.”

   Annoyed, the Great Toad Witch Queen thought, “There’s one more mirror in the attic, an old one; that will be the right one to ask.” But the old mirror in the attic said, “O Queen, of tadpoles you have many, but not as many as Hop and Jenny.”

 

   Then the Great Toad Witch Queen became angry and even more jealous. “Does this Jenny think she is a Princess? Is she trying to have the most tadpoles of any toad ever? Does she one day want to take my place and become Queen herself?”

    And with that she decided to put a spell on Jenny.

   Out of the castle window and over the green water flew the spell. It flew over the pond’s surface with the wings of a dragonfly, over to the rushes where Hop and Jenny lived, and landed right on top of Jenny’s head.           

   Poof! Suddenly Jenny Toad disappeared, and in her place was . . . still Jenny, but different: now she was a young woman! In her head echoed the words of the spell: too many tadpoles!

 

   The new Jenny  was prettier than the old warty Jenny. That’s what almost everyone would say – but not Hop. Hop didn’t find the new Jenny attractive at all. He missed his old Jenny. The new Jenny was a human being, and he was afraid of her. Hop hopped away as fast as he could.

Of course  the new Jenny couldn’t live in the rushes any more. So she rented a room not far from the pond. Every night from outside her window she would hear her lonely Hop Toad calling her:

 

“Br-a-a-a-a-a-a-k! . . . Br-a-a-a-a-a-a-k! . . . Br-a-a-a-a-a-k!”

 

She would go out  in her bare feet in the wet grass looking for him, but her footsteps would always frighten him, and he would stop calling and fall silent, and she could never find him.

 

   One day Hop Toad, distraught, decided to hop all the way around to the elegant green castle on the far side of the pond. As soon as he arrived, he asked the Great Toad Witch Queen, “O Queen, what can I do to get my beloved Jenny back? I promise, toad’s honor, that we’ll never again have more tadpoles than you. You are the Queen of tadpoles.”

   “Well,” said the Great Toad Witch Queen, “perhaps I was a bit hasty.” She thought a while, and then with a quiet and almost remorseful croak she said, “Hop Toad, you will have to do something that’s not natural to you, because you are a toad. You will have to let yourself be caught. Tomorrow night, go sit in the wet grass outside Jenny’s window and give your usual call; but don’t hop away when you hear footsteps. Then see what happens.”

   Hop Toad hopped all the way back to his side of the pond. Then the Great Toad Witch Queen sent a message to Jenny by dragonfly mail. Jenny received it the next morning. Opening the fragile piece of paper, Jenny read, “Tonight go out in the wet grass in your bare feet and do something that is not natural to you, because you are a young woman: pick up the first toad you find and hold it close to your lips; then see what happens.”

 

   That night she waited and listened. She heard a toad calling

 

“Br-a-a-a-a-a-a-k! . . . Br-a-a-a-a-a-a-k! . . . Br-a-a-a-a-a-k!”

 

Following her instructions, she went out in the wet grass in her bare feet. She followed the toad-call, and found a toad that did not hop away in fright. She bent down and picked it up. She held it close to her face, something that is not natural for a young woman to do.

   In that instant, Hop Toad felt a strange urge he had never felt before. He stretched out his body and kissed the young woman full on her lips.    

 

Poof!  Suddenly Jenny the young woman disappeared . . . and in her place was Jenny Toad again.

 

   Every year after that Hop and Jenny raised a new brood of tadpoles, but they were always careful not to have as many as the Great Toad Witch Queen. And Hop and Jenny Toad lived happily ever after.

 

The End

 

   Thanks to Nina West, whose nighttime adventures provided the spark for this story. And thanks to Diana and Jan, who urged me to write it down instead of letting it continue to float only in the clouds of fancy.

   This story is available in a printed version with 18 full-color illustrations by Niklas Schemel. To buy a copy for $10, e-mail me (see the “Contact Me” page).