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- The story about The Frog that Rode on a Snake seems to be a fairly common jataka. I've read it at least one other place before. The story goes that a snake decides he's tired of having to constantly chase his food. He wants an easier way to feed himself. So, he tells the frog king that he was cursed by a brahmin that he must act as a vehicle for frogs. He must give frogs rides upon his back, and he may not eat any without permission of the frog king. So, the frog king rides around on the snakes back for a while, quite enjoying himself. The snake then claims to be famished, just dying of hunger. So, the frog king gives him some 'peasant' frogs to eat. This goes on for some time with the snake eating all of the frogs until there were no more at the lake. Then, he eats the king frog.
- I don't know why this particular tale always stood out to me. Most jatakas that involved trickery portray the victim of that trickery as particularly stupid and gullible. This is just one more example of that. However, the frog king just seems so excessively stupid. He's also a complete prick. He has no problem with feeding some of his subjects to the snake just so that he can keep riding around on it and enjoying himself. That's just such a dick move.
- This story begs to be retold with one of the king's subjects realizing what's going on and overthrowing the king before getting the best of the snake.
Bibliography: The Panchatantra by Krishna Dharma. Web source.
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