Important Legends

The Hop Toad and the Tortuga

First, one must understand that in Chaladon there are both Tortugas and Warty Green Hop Toads.

Tortugas

Tortugas look similiar to a big turtle, but with longer legs. Mostly, they just sit around eating bugs and then picking their teeth with a long straw.

They are very fast runners and quite amusing to watch. When they run, they pick up their shell with their front legs like a fat lady lifting her skirt before wading through wet grass, and then they run like a deer on their back legs.

Celadonian boys keep them as pets and organize "Tuga" races.

Warty Green Hop Toads

These are as big as a large, fat cat. Mostly, they hide in tall grass where they shoot out their ten-foot-long, sticky, pink tongues to catch bugs, butterflies, and even baby birds that forgot what their mothers told them about flying too close to the tall grass.

Actually, they are pretty stupid because when they do catch a baby bird, the mother bird flies down and pecks the dickens out of them. Many think their hugh warts aren't warts at all, but just old peck scars.

The Legend of the Hop Toad and the Tortuga

Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a clever Celadonian who thought of the perfect way to outwit his Riptornikan friend. The Riptornikan was constantly bragging about how fast his "Tuga" could run, so one day the Celadonian told him that he was not at all impressed with the Tortuga in question, and told him that his pet Hop Toad probably could beat him in a race. The Riptornikan was properly insulted and offered to bet 100 pieces of gold against a broccoli bisquit that his Tuga was faster than the stupid toad. The Celadonian smiled and accepted the wager.

The people in that part of Chaladon were absolutely amazed at such a bet because the Celadonian was known as a very clever man who never seemed to make such foolish mistakes. The race began and they were even more mystified because the Tortuga was off like a flash and nearly out of sight, while the hapless Hop Toad simply hippity hopped along at his usual slow pace. It looked like the race was over before it had even got well started. Of course, no one knew the Celadonian had promised his toad a bucket of bugs at the finish line.

Naturally, the Tortuga laughed at how easy it was to win the race and decided to have some fun. Quickly, he ran back to laugh at the slowpoke toad. First, he ran ten times around the silly toad, and then ran backwards ten times, laughing all the while. Finally, he tired of teasing the toad and ran on ahead, over the small hill, down across the little bridge, and through the woods towards the meadow and finish line beyound. It was in the cool shade of the woods that the over-confident Tortuga made his big mistake.

It was a very sunny day and inside his shell the Tortuga was quite overheated from all the running and laughing. "Well," he said to himself, "this is not a real race at all because I can run a hundred times faster than a stupid toad. It certainly won't matter if I rest a few minutes here in the cool shade." Quickly, he fell fast asleep.

Meanwhile, the Hop Toad just kept hopping along, never stopping, never resting, always keeping his eye on the next step, and never forgetting about the bucket of delicious bugs. Up and over the small hill he hopped along, down across the little bridge, through the cool woods where he saw the sleeping Tortuga, and across the meadow towards the finish line. The crown roared with astonishment because here was the toad with the Tuga nowhere in sight.

The faint, far-away roar of the crowd awakened the sleeping Tortuga who saw with horror that the Hop Toad was nearing the finish line. He dashed forward, running faster than he had ever run before, but alas, the toad crossed the finish line ahead of him.

Thus became the Chaladonian saying, "He who hippity hops without rest, beats a fast runner every time," meaning of course that people without any special talent except determination, are always more successful than those people who are merely talented.

It is also noteworthy that the Warty Green Hop Toad became the national symbol of Celadonia, and down to the present time Celadonians always say, " we might not be fast, but we are smart enough to be more determined than anyone else in Chaladon." Many also say that Celadonians never forgot the importance of a bucket of bugs.

Return to Home Page