TheBanyanTree: The Toad and the Princess

[Monique Colver]

When she was little she had been a toad, squat and with bulbous eyes, and
even though she was in a family of toads, she was the ugliest of them.

Not that toads are ugly, as toads, but they're not known for their stunning
good looks.

She wished to be a princess, pretty and sleek, but knew wishing wouldn't
make it so. She didn't know what would, but she hated being a toad. The
other kids laughed at her, for even though some of them were also toads
they didn't seem to care, they carried their toadness around like a bright
shiny shield, and so she wished she could be like that. It wasn't as good
as being a princess, but if she could just be a toad who didn't care about
being a toad, it would be an improvement.

But she did care. She tried not to, because it seemed that if she cared
less she could be happy being a toad.

That didn't work either. She still saw a toad when she looked in the
mirror, and she still cared.

She wished to be a princess because she thought that would make the pain go
away, not knowing that being a princess carries its own burden. It's not
easy being a princess either.

And one day she met a princess, a beautiful non-toad, and she said, "I wish
were a princess too."

The princess had been having a particularly bad day that day, what with all
the demands expected of her just for being a princess, and she said, "Why
would you want that? You can do anything you want, and I can't."

The toad said, "Would you like to be a toad then?"

"Well, no," the princess replied, I wouldn't like that very much at all I
think."

The toad considered this carefully, and thought that at least the princess
was honest.

"But I don't want to be a toad, I'm tired of people looking at me like they
do, and I'm tired of not being smart, or witty, or funny."

The princess regarded the toad with a bit of skepticism and a lot of
frustration. "But you're not a toad. You're just you."

"I'm not a toad? Everyone said I was a toad."

"Pshaw," the princess said, "Do you always believe everything everyone
says?"

"Well, no," the toad responded, wondering where this was going.

"Because if you do, then I say you're not a toad, so it must be true, and
if you don't, then what anyone else says doesn't matter unless you believe
it yourself."

The toad thought about this. "I shall have to think about this some more,"
the toad said, for she was not quick to make up her mind about anything.

"You do that," the princess said, "and while you're thinking about it,
let's go get a pedicure."