The black and blue Frogs are east and west and are male, the white and yellow Frogs are north and south and are female. The white streaks down their backs signify armor and dawn, the spots on their bodies are different kinds of corn. When the Frogs were people they planted corn (shown in the quadrants). The rainbow bars are their strength and protection. The center is black water with outlines of suds (foam), pollen, and rainbows. The pairs of white lines on the water are soap suds from the sun's rays.
Frogs, Toads (tcal, tcal) (U) of different kinds are not distinguished.
After his restoration from Winter Thunder's lightning, Rainboy wandered into Frog's cornfield. Frog was hoeing diligently, his back toward the boy. The description of Frog is given in terms of Rainboy's thoughts.
'His eyes are all swollen," thought Rainboy, and at once Frog answered, "Yes, it is funny how swollen my eyes are."
"His Adam's apple puffs in and out strangely," thought Rainboy. "It's funny how baggy I am under my jaw," said Frog.
Frog had a turquoise pipe which he filled with tobacco and lighted by holding to the Sun. He inhaled the smoke and it came out of holes all over his body. "My! He has smoke-holes all over him," thought Rainboy. "That's true! Smoke comes out of all my warts," said Frog.
He invited Rainboy to smoke, but, warned by his mentor, Rainboy refused, thinking, "I wonder what all those rough things on him are." Again Frog answered his thoughts: "Hail-stones, or potatoes, are the things on me, my grandchild."
Frog then challenged Rainboy to a race. Being a chronic gambler, Rainboy could not refuse. He lost and the gods had to restore him with elaborate ceremony. They gave him power to beat Frog in another race.
Frog had the magic stone ax which, when picked up by anyone not its owner, would strike and kill the one who wielded it. This Rainboy was warned not to do so even though Frog begged him to use it on him (Reichard 1944d, pp. 15, 27; Matthews 1902, p. 179).
Frog had power over rain (Ch. 1). After contending with Rainboy, Frog was given power to accomplish whatever he wished, in exchange for sending rain whenever Earth People asked for it.
Frog is an uninvited guest at the assembly of the gods. Followed by many unruly grandchildren, who swarmed over the place and wet the floor where the people were sitting, he came in grumbling because he had not been notified. In one of the Hail Chant assemblies, Frog was called by the ceremonial name be'ekid na'yai, 'Lake Traveler.' Surrounded by his grandchildren, he sat down near the basket drum and contributed two songs to the chant.
After the gods had rescued Self Teacher from the Water Monsters, Frog followed the party and told them how to make the prayerstick offerings of Water Monster, Water Horse, Beaver, Otter, Big Fish, and Frog himself (Reichard 1944d, pp. 15, 27-9, 105, 115; Matthews 1897, p. 170; 1902, p. 179).
Long Frogs (tcal nne'zi) (U) caused people to sink in a bog and pulled them down into the water. One time when Long Frogs had eaten all the flesh off a Water Monster, Monster Slayer started to burn them, but they begged and promised, "After this we won't be mean if you let us live. We will give our call just as we are doing now, but we shall be calling for rain."
Monster Slayer also encountered Big Toads (tcaltsoh), who promised him, "We shall perform rituals for rain. There will always be dark clouds as there are now."
Long Frog laid the drumstick on the basket drum at Rainboy's Hail Chant, saying, "This is my only song."
When Mourning Dove, in the War Ceremony tale, was sent to find out about two annoying old men, he returned with a story told him by Long Frog and Box Turtle. They had visited some pueblo people and had been hit with a stone ax, which merely glanced off Box Turtle's shell and killed the people wielding it. Later, they had escaped death by fire because Long Frog put it out by urinating; they had escaped boiling in a pot that Turtle had smashed; and finally they had got away when they were tossed into the water. Later these two adventurers won valuable scalps from Monster Slayer in an archery contest (Haile 1938b, pp. 129, 154-7, 165-7; Reichard 1944d, p. 89).