A man and his wife were once sitting by the door of their house, and they had a roasted chicken set before them, and were about to eat it together. Then the man saw that his aged father was coming, and hastily took the chicken and hid it, for he would not permit him to have any of it. The old man came, took a drink, and went away. Now the son wanted to put the roasted chicken on the table again, but when he took it up, it had become a great toad, which jumped into his face and sat there and never went away again, and if any one wanted to take it off, it looked venomously at him as if it would jump in his face, so that no one would venture to touch it. And the ungrateful son was forced to feed the toad every day, or else it fed itself on his face; and thus he went about the world without knowing rest.
Un jour, un homme était assis devant sa porte avec sa femme; ils avaient devant eux un poulet rôti dont ils s'apprêtaient à se régaler. L'homme vit venir de loin son vieux père; aussitôt il se hâta de cacher son plat pour n'avoir pas à en donner au vieillard. Celui-ci but seulement un coup et s'en retourna. A ce moment, le fils alla chercher le plat pour le remettre sur la table; mais le poulet rôti s'était changé en un gros crapaud qui lui sauta au visage et s'y attacha pour toujours. Quand on essayait de l'enlever, l'horrible bête lançait sur les gens un regard venimeux, comme si elle allait se jeter dessus, si bien que personne n'osait en approcher. Le fils ingrat était condamné à la nourrir, sans quoi elle lui aurait dévoré la tête; et il passa le reste de ses jours à errer misérablement sur la terre.