 Once upon a time, in an overgrown garden, there lived an old snake named Mandavisha. He had become so old that he was unable to hunt for his food. One day, he was resting on the bank of a lake. A frog, who caught sight of him, asked him from a safe distance. “Why aren’t you hunting for food?”
“Oh friend! Please leave me alone. Why torment a fellow whom fate has forsaken?” answered the snake. The curiosity of the frog was aroused and he said, “Please tell me what your problem is!” The snake related, “Friend! Once I bit the son of a Brahmin called Kaundinya, in the town of Brahmapura.
The boy was fine and gifted lad. When his father saw his son dead, he fainted. His relatives tried to revive him. When the Brahmin recovered, he said, “I am giving up my work and all worldly pursuits and am retiring to the jungle to meditate. “ Then, he cursed me, saying, “From today, the frog will use you as a vehicle to ride on.” Thus cursed, I am waiting for the frogs to ride me.” The frog, who heard the snake out, went up to Jalapada, the king of the frogs and told him about the cursed snake.
The king of frogs went over to Mandavisha, the snake, and hopped on his back. The snake carried him to and fro, thus pleasing him. The following day, the snake pretended that he was unable to move about. The king of the frogs asked him, “Why do you crawl so slowly today?”
“I’ve had no food to eat,” said the snake. “Well! I’ll let you eat the frogs from my kingdom from this day onward,” said the king. “Sir, I accept your favor!” replied the snake humbly. In due course of time, the snake ate up all the frogs one by one and in the end, the king of the frogs as well. When his turn had come, the king of the frogs thought bitterly, “What a fool I was to have been taken in by such a rascal!”
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A Wicked Snake and The Stupid King of Frogs