The String

A mouse and a frog were best buddies. Every morning the frog would hop out of his pond and go to visit his friend who lived in a hole in the side of a big tree. He would return home at around noon. 

The mouse was delighted in his friend’s company unaware that the friend was slowly turning into an enemy! The reason was that the frog felt that though he visited the mouse every day, the mouse had never made an attempt to visit him! 

One day he felt that this had been enough. When it was time for him to take leave of the mouse, he tied one end of a string around his own leg, tied the other end to the mouse’s tail, and hopped away, dragging the helpless mouse behind him!

The frog dived deep into the pond. The mouse tried to free himself but could not succeed and soon drowned! His bloated body floated to the top. 

A hawk saw the mouse floating on the pond’s surface. He swooped down, and grabbing the mouse in his talons, flew to the branch of a nearby tree. The frog was hauled out of the water too as he was tied with the mouse with the string!

He desperately tried to free himself, but could not and the hawk soon put an end to his struggles!

There is a famous saying in Africa, that one should not dig too deep a pit for one's enemy, as one may fall into it as well!