The Frog Prince,
By the Brothers Grimm,
In the olden time,
When wishing was having,
There lived a king,
Whose daughters were all beautiful,
But the youngest was so exceedingly beautiful that the son himself,
Although he saw her very,
Very often,
Was delighted every time she came outside into the sunshine.
Near the castle of this king was a large and gloomy forest,
Where in the mist stood an old lime tree,
Beneath whose branches splashed a little fountain.
So whenever it was very hot,
The king's youngest daughter ran off into this wood,
And sat down by the side of the fountain,
And,
When she felt dull,
Would often divert herself by throwing a golden ball up in the air,
And catching it again.
And this was her favorite amusement.
Now,
One day it happened that this golden ball,
When the king's daughter threw it in the air,
Did not fall down into her hand,
But onto the grass.
And then it rolled right into the fountain.
The king's daughter followed the ball with her eyes,
But it disappeared beneath the water,
Which was so deep that she could not see the bottom.
Then she began to lament,
And to cry more loudly,
And more loudly,
And,
As she cried,
A voice called out,
Why weepest thou,
O king's daughter?
Thy tears would melt even a stone to pity.
She looked around to the spot once the voice came,
And saw a frog stretching his thick,
Ugly head out of the water.
Ah,
You old water-paddler,
She said.
Was it you that spoke?
I am weeping for my golden ball,
Which bounced away from me into the water.
Be quiet,
And do not cry,
Replied the frog.
I can give thee good assistance.
But what wilt thou give me,
If I succeed in fetching thy plaything up again?
What would you like,
Dear frog?
Said she.
My dresses,
My pearls and jewels,
Or the golden crown which I wear?
The frog replied,
Dresses or jewels or golden crowns are not for me.
But if thou wilt love me,
And let me be thy companion and playmate,
And sit at thy table,
And eat from thy golden plate,
And drink out of thy cup,
And sleep in thy little bed,
If thou wilt promise me all these things,
Then I will dive down and fetch up thy golden ball.
Oh,
I will promise you all,
Said she,
If you will only get me my golden ball.
But she thought to herself,
What is this silly frog chattering about?
Let him stay in the water with his equals,
He cannot enter in society.
Then the frog,
As soon as he had received her promise,
Drew his head under the water and dived down.
Presently he swam up again with the golden ball in his mouth,
And threw it on the grass.
The king's daughter was full of joy when she saw again her beautiful plaything,
And taking it up,
She ran off immediately.
Stop,
Stop,
Cried the frog,
Take me with thee,
I cannot run as thou canst.
But this croaking was of no avail.
Although it was loud enough,
The king's daughter did not hear it,
But hastening home soon forgot the poor frog,
Who was obliged to leap back into the fountain.
The next day,
When the king's daughter was sitting at the table with her father,
And all his courtiers,
And was eating from their own little golden plate,
Something was heard coming up the marble stairs,
Splish-splash,
Splish-splash.
And when it arrived at the top,
It knocked at the door,
And a voice said,
Open the door,
Thou youngest daughter of the king.
So she arose,
And went to see who it was that called to her.
But when she opened the door,
And caught sight of the frog,
She shuddered again very quickly,
And with great passion,
And sat down at the table,
Looking exceedingly pale.
But the king perceived that her heart was beating violently,
And asked her whether it was a giant,
Who had come to fetch her away,
Who stood at the door.
Oh no,
Answered she,
It is no giant,
But an ugly frog.
What does the frog want with you?
Said the king.
Oh dear father,
Yesterday,
When I was playing by the fountain,
My golden ball fell into the water,
And this frog fetched it up again,
Because I cried so much.
But first,
I must tell you,
He pressed me so much,
That I promised him he should be my companion.
I never thought he could come out of the water,
But somehow he has managed to jump out,
And now he wants to come in here.
At that moment,
There was another knock,
And a voice said,
King's daughter,
Youngest,
Open the door,
Hast thou forgotten thy promises made,
At the fountain so clear,
Near the lime tree shade?
Youngest king's daughter,
Open the door.
Then the king said,
What you have promised,
That you must perform,
Go and let him in.
So the king's daughter went and opened the door,
And the frog hopped in right after her,
Up to her chair,
And as soon as she was seated,
He said,
Lift me up.
But she hesitated so long,
That the king had to order her to obey.
And as soon as the frog sat at the chair,
He jumped on the table and said,
Now push thy plate near me,
That we may eat together.
And she did so,
But as everyone noticed,
Very unwillingly.
The frog seemed to relish his dinner very much,
But every bit that the king's daughter ate nearly choked her,
Till at last the frog said,
I have satisfied my hunger and feel very tired.
Wilt thou carry me upstairs now into thy chamber,
And make thy bed ready,
That we may sleep together?
At this speech the king's daughter began to cry,
For she was afraid of the cold frog,
And dared not touch him.
And besides,
He actually wanted to sleep in her own beautiful clean bed?
But her tears only made the king very angry,
And he said,
He who helped you in the time of your trouble,
Must now be despised.
So she took the frog up with two fingers,
And put him in the corner of her chamber.
But as she lay in her bed,
He crept up to it,
And said,
I am so very tired,
That I shall sleep well.
Do take me up,
Or I will tell thy father.
This speech put the king's daughter into a terrible passion,
And catching the frog up,
She threw him with all her strength against the wall,
Saying,
Now will you be quiet,
You ugly frog?
But as he fell,
He was changed from a frog into a handsome prince with beautiful eyes,
Who after a little while became her dear companion and betrothed.
One morning Henry,
Trusted servant of the prince,
Came for them with a carriage.
When his master was changed into a frog,
Trusty Henry had grieved so much that he had bound three iron bands around his heart,
For fear it would break with sorrow.
The faithful Henry,
Who was also the trusty Henry,
Helped in the bride and bridegroom,
And placed himself in the seat behind,
Full of joy at his master's release.
They had not proceeded far when the prince heard a crack,
As if something had broken behind the carriage.
So he put his head out of the window,
And asked trusty Henry what had broken.
And faithful Henry answered,
It was not the carriage,
My master,
But an iron band which I bound around my heart when I was in such grief,
Because you were changed into a frog.
Twice afterwards on the journey,
There was the same noise,
And each time the prince thought that it was some part of the carriage that had given away.
But it was only the breaking of the bands which bound the heart of the trusted Henry,
Who was also the faithful Henry,
And who was thenceforward free and happy.
And that is the end of our story this evening.
Until next time,
Sweet dreams.
