This is one of the best children’s bedtime stories online. Long ago, there was a poor girl living in a small village. She took care of her mother because her mother was very sick and old.
One rainy day, as she was cooking for her mother, she noticed a small toad was watching her from outside the house. The poor girl invited the toad into her kitchen. “Hi, toad. Where is your mommy? Are you hungry?” The toad nodded. The poor girl spooned some food on a tiny plate and placed it on the floor. Also, read The Scorpion And The Frog.
Every day, the toad came for something to eat. The poor girl did not mind. She welcomed the company and grew to love the toad very much. Several years passed, and since she kept feeding the toad, he grew to be quite big and strong.Naturally, the toad could not speak, but in his heart, he longed for a way to show the poor girl how grateful he was.
In the village, there lived a huge and scary centipede. The centipede killed villagers and took girls away. Once a year, villagers had to sacrifice a girl to the centipede. Otherwise, the monster would come down to the village and eat people. The village would be destroyed!
“What can we do?” The town council met, trying to find a solution. “We are going to have to offer a girl. We have no choice!” They all agreed. The villagers started searching for another girl to sacrifice. The poor girl knew that the villagers would give a lot of rice to her family if she volunteered to be sacrificed. “Please, take good care of my mother,” the girl cried to the villagers as she offered to die in order to save the village. You may also like to read, A Frog Grows Up.
Not knowing what was happening, the toad came to see the poor girl as usual. “Here it is,” she told him, “The last meal I can share with you!” “Tomorrow, villagers will take me to be sacrificed to the scary centipede.” She couldn’t stop crying. “I hope you find a kind neighbor who will take good care of you.”
The next day, the villagers took her deep into the forest to the centipede’s cave. When night fell, the villagers went back to the village. The frightened poor girl was left alone. “What is that sound?” she cried. The girl turned around and was terrified to see the huge scary centipede coming toward her. He was going to eat her! “Go away!” she screamed. “Leave me alone, you ugly monster.”
Suddenly, just a s the centipede was about to eat her, the toad appeared and attacked it. “Please, don’t hurt him,” the girl shouted at the centipede. “Take me, not the toad.” However, the toad struggled to protect the girl, fighting the centipede all night long.
The next day, the villagers came into the forest expecting to find that the centipede had eaten the poor girl. They were amazed to see her alive. The toad and centipede were lying still on the ground. “Toad, wake up!” the poor girl shook the toad, but he did not move at all. He had died protecting her. “The toad fought against the monster for me,” the poor girl told the villagers. “I loved the toad and now he’s dead,” she cried.
Impressed by her story and the actions of the toad, the villagers buried him in a good place with a tombstone commemorating his bravery. “Rest in peace, toad,” the people prayed. Also, read Tiddalick The Frog.
From that day on, the villagers did not have to worry about the centipede. Peace was restored to the village and no one had to be sacrificed anymore. The poor girl lived happily, caring for her mother and always remembering her brave friend, the toad.
Here is a short visual depiction of one of the children’s bedtime stories online “The Faithful Toad?“. See the story video below:
