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2nd july 2003Journal, 18th April 1858 [ Sir Froggy (for it is he) writes: Ay ay is rite is rite we bees werry werry strainch One would describe them as peculiarly wary and timid, another equally bold and imperturbable.
[ Sir F: rubbage to firs one is poor judgmint All that is required in studying them is patience. You will sometimes walk a long way along a ditch and hear twenty or more leap in one after another before you, and see where they rippled the water, without getting sight of one of them. Sometimes, as this afternoon, when you approach a pool or spring a frog hops in and buries itself at the bottom. You sit down on the brink and wait patiently for his reappearance. After a quarter of an hour or more he is sure to rise to the surface and put out his nose quietly without making a ripple, eyeing you steadily.
[ Sir F: is you soprizd wy wdlnt it bee so At length he becomes as curious about you as you can be about him. He suddenly hops straight toward you, pausing within a foot, and takes a near and leisurely view of you. Perchance you may now scratch its nose with your finger and examine it to your heart's content, for it is become as imperturbable as it was shy before.
[ Sir F: you wanta wotchit busta this is jus carm befor sturm orl meri hel wil soon be brakin loos if yous pots a fut rong You conquer them by superior patience and immovableness; not by quickness, but by slowness; not by heat, but by coldness. You see only a pair of heels disappearing in the weedy bottom, and, saving a few insects, the pool becomes as smooth as a mirror and apparently as uninhabited. At length, after half an hour, you detect a frog's snout and a pair of eyes above the green slime, turned toward you.
[ Sir F: git an stay out go on gway altho wen Sir Henry has gon home fer his tea it get a bit lonly here wiv only the newts - Thoreau
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