When an old man and his wife lay dying, he called his son, Hanina. The old man told him that after they had died, he must perform the customary rites. Then he must go to the market on the eve of the festival of Passover and buy the first thing he saw at whatever price was asked.
Hanina did what his father instructed. In the market, a man came to him with a silver casket. Hanina bought it for a thousand gold coins.
He showed the casket to his wife. When they opened it, a tiny frog jumped out. Hanina’s wife was very disappointed. However, they fed and cared for the frog.
Surprisingly, the frog grew to a man’s size! Hanina and his wife were very puzzled and unhappy because the frog ate everything they had and they became steadily poorer till they had nothing left at all.
One day, the frog spoke to Hanina’s wife, “You have cared well for me. Ask me what you wish for.”
“Oh, please give us food,” wept the lady.
“There it is,” he said as a knock sounded on the door and a large basket of food appeared.
Hanina watched astonished as the frog asked him what he wished for. “You seem to be very learned,” said Hanina, “Teach me all the learning that men have.”
The frog wrote down the Laws and seventy languages of the world on pieces of paper. “Swallow these,” he instructed. Hanina obeyed him and found he knew everything, even the language of birds and animals!
A few days later, the frog said, “I wish to repay you for all your kindness. Come with me to the woods.”
So the next morning, Hanina and his wife followed the enormous frog into the woods. When they reached there, the frog croaked loudly, “Come to me, all creatures of the streams, the trees and the caves. Bring precious jewels and stones and pearls!”
And from all directions came animals, birds and insects, carrying jewels and stones that they piled at the feet of Hanina and his wife. “You obeyed your dying father and me without question. This is your reward,” said the frog.
“Who are you, dear friend?” asked the couple. “I am the fairy son of Adam,” smiled the frog as he bade them goodbye and, turning back into a tiny frog, he hopped into a stream.
Hanina and his wife went home with their wealth and became famous for their kindness, charity and wisdom.
