The Fast Thinker

The Frog and the Antelope
Summary by: Robert Herriott

The story of Frog and Antelope is one of my favorite from Native American mythology. It comes from the Kootenai people of Montana. Throughout the myth we learn about two equally important values: the value of knowledge, as well as the importance of humility.

In the beginning of the myth, Antelope is boasting over how amazing his running skills are. Frog begins to tire of this and decides to challenge Antelope to a race. Antelope immediately accepts the challenge, thinking that there is no way a small frog could possibly beat him in a race.

The race begins and, as expected, Antelope quickly pulls ahead. It seems the race will be over in no time, but as soon as Frog is out of site behind Antelope, Frog suddenly appears in front of him. During the days before the race, Frog had gotten all of his relatives to conceal themselves at various locations across the race course. Whenever the next frog in line saw Antelope coming, they would jump out in front of him. This made it look like Frog was always one step ahead of Antelope.

As a result Antelope becomes discouraged, and he starts becoming more and more tired, and moving slower and slower. He is almost to the finish line when the last frog jumps out in front of him and wins the race. Because Frog is declared the winner, Antelope is forced to stop his boasting.

This myth clearly shows how necessary humility is. The character who thought he was better than everyone else was the one who ended up losing. Therefore, we must be sure to never set ourselves above others. You never know when you might run into a frog.

Source:
Summary:
Anderson, John. “A Kottenai Folk Tale About Gambling.” The Fast Thinker. Sandpoint:
AmDes Publishing, 1994. 7 Novmber 2008. .
Image:
Anderson, John. “The Fast Thinker.” 1994. Painting. Angel Fire. 11 November 2008.
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