A poor girl from a village always helped her parents and fed a toad from her rice bowl daily. When the village needed to sacrifice a girl to a cave monster yearly, she volunteered to save the others. On the night of sacrifice, the toad appeared and battled the monster through the night, sacrificing itself to save the girl. The next morning, the villagers found the girl alive and learned of the toad's bravery, giving it a proper burial and living in peace afterwards.

1. (사)하나를위한음악재단과 함께하는 음악동화 시리즈 은혜갚은 두꺼비 Faithful Toad

2. Once upon a time, there was a young girl from a poor family in a small village. She loved her parents very much, and was very devoted to them. She always did chores and tried to help her parents in every way. 그림 / 배연우 _9세

3. One day, when the girl was preparing a meal, she noticed that a toad was watching her. 그림 / 배선우 _7세

4. 그림 / 이수진 _9세 She gave a spoonful of rice to the toad from her own rice bowl. The toad went away after receiving the rice from the girl.

5. 그림 / 한지수 _9세 From then on, the toad came up to the girl every time she prepared her meal, and she always gave the toad a spoonful of rice.

6. Several years passed, and, since she kept feeding the toad, it grew to be quite large. 그림 / 심동우 _7세

7. Meanwhile, there was a cave in the girl’s village where a dreadful monster lived. Every year the people of the village had to sacrifice a girl to the monster. If the town refused to sacrifice a girl, it would have been destroyed by an epidemic or a famine. 그림 / 심동우 _7세

8. 그림 / 심가연 _9세, 한지수 _9세 And so the people in the town needed a girl to sacrifice every year. The pious girl, full of love and devotion to her parents, wanted her parents and the other villagers to be blessed with good fortune, thus she volunteered to be sacrificed. Thus, the girl offered herself to be sacrificed to the cave monster.

9. Finally, the time for the sacrifice came, and the girl was full of despair as she handed out the last spoonful of rice to the toad. “Here it is! This is the last meal that I will share with you!” “Alas! After I’m gone, who’s going to feed you, my dear toad …! I hope you can find a neighbor who will take good care of you!” 그림 /이윤솔_7세

10. The day of sacrifice came, and she was dragged into the cave. 그림 / 이예지 _7세

11. 그림 / 이진영 _8세 But in the middle of the night, when all was dark, her dear toad appeared in the cave. It sat across from the girl, and then puffed a strong breath from out of its mouth. The toad’s breath spread up to the ceiling of the cave.

12. 그림 / 김정현 _7세 Surprised by the action of her dear toad, the girl looked up to the top of the cave, and was terrified to see a big red centipede hanging down from there.

13. 그림 / 한성민 _7세 The strong breath of the toad caused the monstrous centipede to retreat to the top of the cave. Yet again tried to attack the girl, while puffing back at the toad. Puffing at the centipede, the toad struggled to protect the girl. And the monster also vented its poisonous breath. They fought all through the night.

14. 그림 / 이진혁 _5세, 한규진 _6세 The dreadful battle between the monster and the toad ended with both their deaths. Yet the girl survived.

15. 그림 / 심가연 _9세 When sun rose, the people of the town entered the cave expecting to find her dead body. They were amazed, then, to find that she had survived the dreadful cave monster.

16. 그림 / 이수진 _9세, 한성민 _7세 The girl told the people how she had fed the toad and how the toad fought against the cave monster for her. The people of the town were impressed by her filial affection and her beautiful heart, and were moved by the story of the faithful toad that saved her life.

17. 그림 / 김정현 _7세 Thus they gave the faithful toad a proper burial with a tombstone commemorating its courageous act. With the cave monster dead, peace came to the town, and the girl had lived happily ever with her loving parents.

18. (사)하나를위한음악재단과 함께하는 음악동화 시리즈 은혜갚은 두꺼비와 동물의 사육제 Faithful Toad & Animal Carnival