9 The Frog Prince (Germany)

In the olden days when wishing was still of some use,there lived a King whose youngest daughter was so fair that even the sun, who sees so many wonders, could not help marveling every time he looked into her face. Near the King’s palace lay a large dark forest and there, under an old linden tree, was a well. When the day was very warm, the little Princess would go off into this forest and sit at the rim of the cool well. There she would play with her golden ball, tossing it up and catching it deftly in her little hands.

Now it happened one day that, as the Princess tossed her golden ball into the air, it did not fall into her uplifted hands as usual. Instead, it fell to the ground and rolled into the water.The well was deep. So she cried and cried and could not stop. “What is the matter, little Princess?”said a voice behind her. “You are crying so that even a hard stone would have pity on you.”The little girl looked around and there she saw a frog. He was in the well and was stretching his fat ugly head out of the water.

“Oh, it’s you—you old water-splasher!”said the girl.“I’m crying over my golden ball. It has fallen into the well.”“Oh, as to that,”said the frog, “I can bring your ball back to you. But what will you give me if I do?”“Whatever you wish, dear old frog,”said the Princess. The frog answered:“If you can find it in your heart to like me and take me for your playfellow, if you will let me sit beside you at the table,eat from your little golden plate and drink from your little golden cup, and sleep in your own little bed: if you promise me all this, then I will gladly go down to the bottom of the well and bring back your golden ball.”“Oh yes,”said the Princess, “I’ll promise anything you say.”But to herself she thought: “What is the silly frog chattering about? He can only live in the water and croak with the other frogs; he could never be a playmate to a human being.”

As soon as the frog had heard her promise, he disappeared into the well. But he soon came up again, holding the golden ball in his mouth. He dropped it on the grass at the feet of the Princess who was wild with joy when she saw her favorite plaything once more. She picked up the ball and skipped away with it, thinking no more about the little creature.

The next evening, the Princess was eating her dinner at the royal table when—plitch plotch, plitch plotch—something came climbing up the stairs. When it reached the door, it knocked at the door and cried: “Youngest daughter of the King, open the door for me!”The Princess opened the door, there sat the frog, wet and green and cold! Quickly she slammed the door and sat down at the table again, her heart beating loud and fast. The King could see well enough that she was frightened and worried, and he said, “My child, what are you afraid of? Is there a giant out there who wants to carry you away?”“Oh no,”said the Princess, “It’s not a giant,but a horrid old frog!”“And what does he want of you?”asked the King. The princess was telling her father what had happened in the forest, when the frog knocked at the door once more and said:

“Youngest daughter of the King,

Open the door for me.

Mind your words at the old well spring;

Open the door for me!”

At that the King said, “If we make promises, daughter,we must keep them; so you had better go and open the door.”The Princess still did not want to do it but she had to obey.When she opened the door, the frog hopped in and followed her until she reached her chair. Then he wanted to be put on the table.

The frog enjoyed the meal and ate heartily, but the poor girl could not swallow a single bite. At last the frog said,“Now I’ve eaten enough and I feel tired. Carry me to your room so I can go to sleep.”The Princess began to cry, for she was afraid of the cold frog and she did not like to touch him. But the King said, “He helped you in your trouble. Is it fair to scorn him now?”There was nothing for her to do but to pick up the creature—she did it with two fingers—and to carry him up into her room and put him at the foot-end of her bed.

When the night was over and the morning sunlight burst in at the window, the frog crept out from under her pillow and hopped off the bed. But as soon as his feet touched the floor he was no longer a cold, fat, goggle-eyed frog, but a young Prince with handsome friendly eyes! Then he told her that he had been bewitched by a wicked woman and no one but she could break the spell.

“And will you let me be your playmate now?”said the Prince, laughing. “Mind your words at the old well spring!”At this the Princess laughed too, and they both ran out to play with the golden ball. For years they were the best of friends and the happiest of playmates, and it is not hard to guess that when they were grown up they were married and lived happily ever after.

—Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm