Two frogs lived far apart, but they both had the same idea at the same time. They wanted to leave home and see a bit of the world.
The frog, who lived in Kyoto, wanted to visit Osaka "Soon, I shall go to Osaka," he thought.
The frog who lived in Osaka dreamed of seeing Kyoto. "Oh, I shall leave soon for Kyoto," he said to himself.
One fine morning in spring. both the frogs set out. Halfway between Kyoto and Osaka, there was a mountain. It took the frogs a long time to reach the top, but they did so at last. What a surprise it was for each to see the other! They took some rest and began to talk about their journey."I wish we were bigger," said the Osaka frog, "for then we could see both town from here. We could then decide if we want to go on"
"I have an idea," said the Kyoto frog. "If we stand up on our hind legs and hold of to each other, we might see the towns we wish to travel to. Could we do that?"The Osaka frog said it was a very good ides. He put his front feet on his friend's shoulders. The frogs stood up on their toes, stretching themselves as high as they could. The Kyoto frog faced Osaka and the Osaka frog faced Kyoto.
But the foolish frogs forgot that when they stood up, their large eyes were at the backs of their heads. So even though they both faced the towns to which they were going to, their eyes saw only the towns from which they had come
"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog. "Kyoto looks exactly like Osaka. Why then make such a long journey? I might as well go home!"
"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog. "Kyoto looks exactly like Osaka Why ther make such a long journey? I might as well go home!"
"If I had known that Osaka was just the copy of Kyoto, I would never have come all this way," the Kyoto frog said. And as he spoke, the frogs let go of each other and fell down on the grass, croaking loudly.
The two frogs said good bye and wished each other good luck.
Then, each set off for home again. To this day, they both believe that Osaka and Kyoto, which are as different as two towns can be, look exactly the same.