The Frogs and the "I AM"
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Back in the Dreamtime, frogs were among the bravest creatures on the earth, despite their tiny size. They lived happily in streams and ponds, catching flies and small fish and facing any danger that came their way fiercely.
But one day, as the frogs were preparing for their midday meal, a Voice spoke to them. The terrifying thing about this Voice was that it seemed to come from everywhere – the trees, the sandy beach, the water itself seemed to be speaking. It even spoke through the blood and bone of the frogs themselves. The Voice said, “Give me some food!”
The brave frogs weren’t afraid, and they didn’t mind handing over some of their fish to a passing stranger. The only question was who to hand it to. Led by the King Frog, they laid three fish out on the river bank and watched as the fish vanished before their eyes: glop, glop, glop!
The frogs hopped over to have a look, but everything on the bank was quiet: there were no footprints, no strange smells, and no rustling leaves to show which way the Voice had gone. The brave frogs shrugged and went about their business.
The next day at midday, just as the frogs were preparing their lunch, the Voice that spoke through blood and bone spoke again: “Give me some food!” Once again, the hospitable frogs offered three fish and watched them vanish: glop, glop, glop! But this time, the Voice spoke again: “Give me some MORE food!”
Day after day this continued, and each time the Voice that spoke through blood and bone asked for yet more food. Soon the frogs had very little to eat themselves and they began to grumble: “We’ve let ourselves become scared of this Voice! Why should we have to give it food? If it can’t catch its own food, we have nothing to be scared about!” So the King Frog called a corroboree and said,
“The problem is that we don’t know the size of this creature. It makes it very difficult to prepare to fight it. We must ask it to show itself.”
So the next day, when the voice that spoke through blood and bone arrived and demanded food, the King Frog spoke up: “No! No more food until you show us what you are!”
The Voice gave a rumble that sounded like thunder until the water rippled, but still all the frogs joined in shouting: “We’re not afraid of you! No more food until you show us what you are!”
“Very well,” answered the Voice, “Tomorrow when the sun is highest in the sky, I will come and show you what I am.”
The next day as the sun rose higher in the sky, the brave frogs were in a state of nervous anticipation, preparing all their weapons for whatever kind of battle this could turn out to be. The old ones showed off war wounds and gave advice and the young ones hopped about excitedly, looking forward to their first real fight.
Then, at midday, there was a rumbling noise in the distance that grew louder and closer. A cloud of smoke was seen on the horizon, galloping towards them like a whirlwind and as it came closer and gathered force, the Voice that spoke through blood and bone boomed: “I...AM...”
But the frogs never heard the end of the sentence. They had all been filled with the fearful and certain belief that if they saw or heard what was about to be revealed, they would instantly die, and as one they had dived into the water. There they sat at the bottom of the pond until they were certain that the Voice that spoke through blood and bone had gone away.
Even today, if you walk past a pond with frogs in it, the frogs will all jump into the water at the sound of you coming. In fact they’ll jump in and hide at the slightest sound, because they are all terrified that it’s the Voice that spoke through blood and bone coming back to finish its sentence...