The Hermit on the Froschberg

A new tale about a hermit, Mount Froschberg in the Siebengebirge, and frogs. Not so long ago, in a little town below the Siebengebirge, there lived a man who was very friendly, but also extremely pessimistic. He always feared that something might not be as it should be, and that something might go wrong.

Once he had burned his mouth on hot soup, now he did not eat soup any more because it might be hot. Moreover, he hardly went out for a walk anymore. After all, it might rain and then his umbrella might leak or, even worse, the wind might blow it off his hand.

Can one still sleep soundly?

One day, he dared to go out despite of all his worries, but then some little devils laid a stick on the street, and promptly he fell over it. Now he knew for sure that world wished him harm, and that he had to prepare for the worst.. Maybe the world would be evil enough to just vanish while he was sleeping? How could he ever dare to sleep again?

Up to Mount Froschberg

So he made a plan. Up there, on the Froschberg (the Frog Mountain) he would be safe. The frogs with their relentless “croak croak” would keep him awake. So he locked his house and off he went. Indeed, the frogs always had something to tell each other. There was one magnificent frog with a sonorous voice who never ran short of news. With so much croaking around him, our hermit couldn’t even think of sleeping.

But then the magnificent frog with the sonorous voice fell in love. From then on, he only whispered softly into the ear of his adored one. It became quieter on the Froschberg, and our hermit became more and more tired, his eyelids became more and more heavy, and finally, he was asleep.

A ray of sunshine

The next morning he woke up very slowly. A ray of sunshine came through his closed eyelids, he felt a ladybug crawling over his nose, and from somewhere he heard a soft “croak croak” that sounded like “good morning”. Slowly he opened his eyes. There sat the magnificent frog with the sonorous voice and his adored one. Yes, the world was still there, and he was still there, too, and he felt very alive. “Thank you kindly, and I bid you a good morning, too,” he said happily to the two of them, “today it is a good morning indeed, I didn’t have such a good morning in years!”