Extrait du livre The water of the earth
The water of the earth by Pascale Vignali and Justine Cunha Le Regard Sonore Editions
Once upon a time, on an island in a distant land, an island whose timeless forests contained strange trees and invisible animals with mysterious cries… Once upon a time on this extraordinary island, lived …
A frog. A small frog, with smooth skin of a lovely soft green, long slender fingers and webbed feet, round eyes and a full throat ... But just a plain frog.
And that was its concern : THE FROG : Why am I so small and so ordinary ? Any animal on this island is better than me ! The kangaroo has a magic pocket, the crocodile is terribly dangerous, the opossum glides from tree to tree. What do I have ? A sticky tongue, to catch mosquitoes !!! I will never be admired for such a feat !!!!
Deep in its dark thoughts, the frog began to drink water from the pond. It thought, and drank, and thought, ... and drank so much that it drank up the pond down to its last drop. It noticed that it was feeling very good ! THE FROG : Hmm, I was thirsty! And look at me... it seems I’ve grown rounder and bigger ? This is remarkable! Let’s drink again...
The frog leaped to a nearby brook, and followed the stream’s bed while drinking its water... It greedily drank it up to the last drop. Again it thought how good it was feeling ! THE FROG : At last I have reached a size no one can ignore. I’m most certainly the largest frog in the world ... But I can definitely do better!
Once the brook had been totally drained, the frog jumped heavily into the river ... and again, drank every last drop of it. It was feeling better and better ! THE FROG : It is nice to be so large and imposing ! I defy anyone to walk all over me now ! And if I drink all the water of the river, my feat will be remembered by all. The whole world will bow before me, a frog !
The frog, who was now too heavy to jump, walked slowly to the river and began to drink and drink and drink ... down to the last drop. And once again, it felt very good : THE FROG : All I had to do was to stoop, drink and become the most extraordinary frog of all time ! I have a fabulous talent, much greater than that of the other animals, and I did not even know it ! How admirable I have become ! And this is not over !
