Legend of the Frog King
If one follows the stream out of Shizu Mura and manages to track it back to its source (a very difficult task, given its many disappearances underground and the marshes that dot its course), one will find the frog king.
The frog king, so the legend says, is as large as a bear, talks like a man, and wears the peaked, black cap of an Imperial courtier. He is attended to by a court of frogs, both large and small, all looking very clever, perched atop a vast trove of golden coins.
None of the villagers professes to know where the source of the stream is, but all can tell the story of a young girl and her brother who once found the source and met the frog king. At first he berated the children for interrupting his court, but the girl remembered her manners and apologized repeatedly and sincerely. This pleased the frog king, who offered to give her part of his treasure if she exchanged it for a treasure of her own. The girl, being from a very poor family and believing she had little to lose, agreed to the exchange. At that, the frog king smiled, shot out his tongue, and consumed her little brother whole. Horrified, the girl fled, clutching large handfuls of the frog king's gold coins. Her family was no longer poor, but the little girl was never happy again.
For reasons that escape outsiders, the inhabitants of Shizu Mura find this story funny.
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