Cambodian Tales: The (Cambodian) Frog In The Well.

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(This little story describes my relationship with my Cambodian driver/companion Sophat, and took shape as I dozed on the back of the motorbike somewhere between Phnom Penh and Svey Riang).

There was a frog who lived in a well - or at least a puddle with deep sides. He wasn't a happy creature. If he looked up he could see birds flying free, plants and trees around the top of the well and thirsty animals that stopped to drink. Sometimes other frogs visited the well, looking for a mate or for food. They would stay for a while before jumping out again to explore new places.

Not this frog. A little on the large side he would just sit there feeling sorry for his plight, looking up at the walls surrounding him and telling himself there was nothing he could do to change things. "I am Buddhist" he said to himself. "Perhaps my next life will be better". Now, the depth of this well was not so great that he couldn't jump out as others had done, but he was too lazy to find the determination or to practice. Neither was he enterprising enough to have asked passing creatures to help him escape. He was after all a male who rarely talked and never asked for direction.

One day a hot and tired dog stopped to take a drink from the well. Seeing the frog she asked the reason for his sadness and offered her help. "Jump up onto my neck and together we can travel to places we've never seen" said the dog. Such a simple but clever plan he thought and so up he jumped, free at last. It was the start of a great adventure. For food his friend suggested that if the frog caught and stored the flies landing on the dogs head he would always have something to eat when he was hungry. But the frog was too lazy to plan ahead, he caught and ate just enough to settle his hunger then complained when there was nothing to feed on later.

When he wasn't in need of something he would just sleep. The frog lived for the day and showed no curiosity about the vast world he now found himself in. He didn't look at the path ahead of him so he could avoid approaching obstacles which then stopped him in his tracks. "There's nothing I can do" he said to himself, and was content to let the dog find a way through and to provide for him. He became more lazy, fat and extremely greedy.

"This frog has become a burden to me and we should part ways" thought the dog. He settled his friend in a large pond, hoping he would remember the advice given to live well on his own until they met up again later that year. Life was good for the frog in his swampy home and it was only as the dry season drew to an end that the pond dried up. Food became scarce and the frog couldn't think what to do other than to live off the neighbours who had prepared for the drought. Sometimes he even had to steal to stay alive but never accepted that he now reaped what he had sown, that this life was born from his poor decisions.

Before the rains began the dog returned and was dismayed to see that the frog had learned nothing since leaving the well and had even imprisoned himself again behind the bars of a closed mind. "I can no longer help you when you are so unwilling to help yourself" said the dog, and after reminding the frog to heed the advice he had been given, the dog wished him luck and left. This left the frog distraught but still he did nothing. Desperation set in and for the first time he recalled his friends advice, thought about it and finally understood the meaning behind the words. With nothing more to lose he set out determined to follow one suggestion at a time and make the small but important changes that could improve his life. The walls of his well, both the real and imagined, no longer confined him. Less fearful of life and with more organization than ever before, he set out to find the only real friend he had ever known.

Note: What a load of bollocks! Such Khmer enlightenment remains a figment of my imagination, but what do we have if our hearts become as devoid of hope as are our heads?

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