Tag Archives: mother

“The Disobedient Frog”

Nationality: Korean
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 9, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

“This story was a bedtime story that my grandma used to tell me sometimes when I was a child, probably around when I was in kindergarten. It was about a disobedient frog.

So, once upon a time, there was a tree frog who was very disobedient to his mother. He never did what he was told and always just did the opposite of whatever his mom wanted. For example, like if his mom said not to eat the bug, he would eat the bug and if his mom said to go west, he would go east. Because of his constant disobedience, the mommy frog ended up getting sick, and died. But before she died when she was very sick, she asked the disobedient son to bury her near the river, because, um, she thought he would do the opposite of what she asked, as always, and bury her in the land. However, because his mom became sick from his disobedience, the son frog repented from his ways and wanted to obey his mom at least for her final wish. So, he actually buried her by the river instead of on land. Each time it rained, he was so afraid that his mom’s body would wash away in the water so he would cry out. This is why you can hear a frog’s cries near rivers every time it rains.”

My informant told me this tale over lunch on a sunny day, as she stated that this story was the first one that popped up in her thoughts, as she was feeling homesick. She said that she remembered being so sad whenever her grandma would tell her this story, and that it would really make her feel love toward her mom. It helped her to at least try to be more obedient, because of fears that her mother would get sick if she disobeyed her. She would remember past instances of disobedience would remorse.

Hearing this story, I was also really struck with how sad and depressing the story is, especially for a tale that is often told to children. The way the mother and the son frog are never on the same page is really tragic, as it took his mothers death to make the son come to his senses and the mother was never able to see her changed son. She could have thought he never really loved her, as he was constantly disobedient, when he really did as evidence by his crying at each rainfall. This story could really scare children into obeying their parents, especially since children often take things literally. I think I personally can never hear the croaking of frogs the same way.

Children Horror Story

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

So, there was this really, really good looking couple.  They had a baby girl that was super cute.  But as the baby grew up, she got less and less cute to the point where the parents became too embarrassed to take her out and have other people see her so they tried to keep her at home as much as possible.  One day, the little girl kept crying that she wanted to go to the park and the mom couldn’t handle it anymore, so she took her to the park.  At the park, the little girl was like, “Mommy, I need to use the bathroom.”  There wasn’t a bathroom anywhere so the mom brought her daughter to a little secluded grassy area that was on a cliff near the park. She told the daughter, “You can pee here. No one will see you.”  While the girl was peeing, the mom pushed her off the cliff and the little girl died.  A couple weeks later, she found out that she was pregnant again.  When the baby was born, it was the most adorable little baby boy and as he grew, he just got cuter and cuter.  The couple loved their son so much and was always showing him off.  One day, the mom brought the little boy out to the same park and he needed to pee.  The mom then took her son back to the grassy cliff area.  She told him, “Mommy will wait for you over there so take your time.”  He replied, “Ok, but Mommy? Please don’t push me off this time.”

My informant told me this story while we were eating dinner.  We had previously been discussing our beliefs regarding  the after life when she said that the topic reminded her of a story she heard.  She told me that her mother had told her this story.  When I asked her what this story meant to her, she told me that it taught her that she should never be embarrassed by their family.

I feel like the story is very effective because of the twist at the end.  When I was hearing this story I expected the ghost of the girl to return and push the boy off the cliff; I was completely blown away when it turned out that the boy was a reincarnation of the girl.  I agree with my informant’s interpretation.  Additionally, I believe there is a focus on how shallowness is a bad characteristic to have, as seen through the couple’s better treatment for their better looking child.  At the same time, the theme of revenge is somewhat present through the reincarnation of the little girl into the little boy.