Toad and Frog went to the river.

“What a day for a swim,” said Frog.

“Yes,” said Toad. “I will go behind the rocks and put on my bathing suit.”

“I don’t wear a bathing suit,” said Frog.

“But I do,” said Toad. “After I put on my bathing suit, do not look at me until I get into the water.”

“Why not?” asked Frog.

“Because I look funny in my bathing suit,” said Toad.

Frog closed his eyes when Toad came out from behind the rocks. Toad had his bathing suit on.

“Don’t look,” he said.

Frog and Toad jumped into the water. They swam all day. Frog swam fast. Toad swam slowly.

A turtle came along the river.

“Frog, ask the turtle to go away,” said Toad. “I do not want him to see me in my bathing suit when I come out of the river.”

Frog swam to the turtle.

“Turtle,” said Frog, “please go away.”

“Why?” asked the turtle.

“Because Toad thinks that he looks funny in his bathing suit, and he does not want you to see him,” said Frog.

Some lizards were sitting nearby.

“Does Toad really look funny in his bathing suit?” they asked.

A snake came out of the grass.

“If Toad looks funny in his bathing suit,” said the snake, “then I want to see him.”

“We want to see him too,” said two dragonflies.

“I want to see something funny, too,” said a field mouse.

Frog swam back to Toad.

“I am sorry, Toad,” he said. “Everyone wants to see you in your bathing suit.”

“Then I will stay here in the river until they go away,” said Toad.

The turtle and the lizards and the snake and the dragonflies and the field mouse all sat at the river. They waited for Toad to come out of the water.

“Please,” cried Frog, “please go away!”

But no one went away. Toad got colder and colder. He started to shiver.

“I must come out of the water,” said Toad, “or I will get a cold.”

Toad got out of the river. The water ran out of his bathing suit. The turtle laughed. The lizards laughed. The snake laughed. The field mouse laughed, and Frog laughed, too.

“Why are you laughing, Frog?” asked Toad.

“I am laughing, Toad,” said Frog, “because you really look funny in your bathing suit!”

“I know that,” said Toad. Then he took his clothes and went home.