As the story opens, Nicholas finds himself suffering the punitive measures of a self-appointed and authoritarian aunt. He is denied the supposed privilege of going to the sands of Jagborough because he refused to eat his bread-and-milk in a bowl, which contains a frog.
Scolded for speaking nonsense as there could not be a frog in his dish, Nicholas insists that there is, indeed, a frog, since he has put it there himself. Then Nicholas is scolded further for his audacity in taking a frog from the garden; however, he perceives only the older person's misjudgment in arguing that there could be no such creature in his bread and milk.