Frog, they began to laugh, too. They just laughed and laughed and
laughed until the tears came. They rolled over and over on the bank and
kicked their heels from sheer enjoyment. It was the funniest thing they
had seen for a long, long time.

"Did you ever see such greed?" gasped Billy Mink.

"Why don't you pull it out and start over again?" shouted Little Joe
Otter.

Now this is just what Grandfather Frog was trying to do. At least, he
was trying to pull the fish out. He hadn't the least desire in the world
to try swallowing it again. In fact, he felt just then as if he never,
never wanted to see another fish so long as he lived. But Grandfather
Frog's hands are not made for grasping slippery things, and the tail of
a fish is very slippery indeed. He tried first with one hand, then with
the other, and at last with both. It was of no use at all. He just
couldn't budge that fish. He couldn't cough it up, because it had gone
too far down for that. The more he clawed at that waving tail with his
hands, the funnier he looked, and the harder Little Joe Otter and Billy
Mink and Jerry Muskrat laughed. They made such a noise that Spotty the
Turtle, who had been taking a sun-bath on the end of an old log, slipped
into the water and started to see what it was all about.

Now Spotty the Turtle is very, very slow on land, but he is a good
swimmer. He hurried now because he didn't want to miss the fun. At first
he didn't see Grandfather Frog.

"What's the joke?" he asked.