Hello dear one,
My name is Jessica Amos but you can call me Jessa.
Tonight I will be reading you the story of the frog prince.
But first,
Settle down,
Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose,
Out through your mouth and relax your body.
Get comfortable.
And with your eyes closed,
Let your mind draw pictures of this story as I read you these words.
The Frog Prince In the old days,
When it was still of some use to wish for the thing one wanted,
There lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful,
But the youngest was so beautiful that the son himself who had seen so much lingered each time he shone over her because of her great beauty.
Near the royal castle there was a great dark wood,
And in the wood under an old linden tree was a well.
When the day was hot,
The king's daughter would go into the wood and sit by the edge of the cool well.
And when she got bored,
She would take out a golden ball and throw it up and catch it again,
And this was her favorite pastime.
Now it happened,
One day,
That the golden ball,
Instead of falling back into the maiden's little hand,
Dropped instead on the edge of the well and rolled in.
The king's daughter followed it with her eyes as it sank,
But the well was deep,
So deep that the bottom could not be seen.
Then she began to weep,
And she wept and wept as if she could never be comforted.
In the midst of her weeping,
She heard a voice say to her,
What is wrong,
King's daughter?
Your tears would melt a heart of stone.
And when she looked to see where the voice was coming from,
She saw nothing but a frog stretching his thick,
Ugly head out of the water.
Oh,
Is it you,
Old waddler,
She said?
I am crying because my golden ball has fallen into the well.
Never mind,
Do not weep,
Answered the frog.
I can help you,
But what will you give me if I fetch your ball?
Whatever you like,
Dear frog,
She said,
Any of my clothes,
My pearls and jewels,
Or even the golden crown I wear.
Your clothes,
Your pearls and jewels,
And your golden crown are not for me,
Answered the frog.
But if you would love me,
And have me for your companion and playmate,
And let me sit by you at the table,
And eat from your plate,
And drink from your cup,
And sleep in your little bed,
If you would promise me all this,
Then I would gladly dive below the water and return your golden ball to you.
Oh,
Yes,
She answered,
I will promise it all,
Whatever you want,
If you will only get me my ball again.
But she thought to herself,
What nonsense he talks,
As if he could do anything but sit in the water and croak with the other frogs,
Or could possibly be anyone's companion.
But the frog,
As soon as he heard her promise,
Ducked his head under the water and sank down out of sight.
And after a while,
He came to the surface again with the ball in his mouth,
And he threw it on the grass beside her.
The king's daughter was overjoyed to see her pretty plaything again,
And she picked it up and ran off with it.
Wait,
Wait,
Cried the frog,
Take me with you,
I cannot run as fast as you can.
But it was no use,
For croak,
Croak after her as he might,
She would not listen to him,
But instead hurried home and very soon forgot all about the poor frog,
Who had to go back to his well again.
The next day,
When the king's daughter was sitting at the table with the king and all the court,
And eating from her golden plate,
There came something pitter-patter up the marble stairs,
And then there came a knocking at the door,
And a voice crying,
Yoo-hoo,
Princess,
Let me in.
She got up and ran to see who it could be,
But when she opened the door,
There was the frog sitting outside.
Then she shut the door hastily and went back to her seat,
Feeling very uneasy.
The king noticed how quickly her heart was beating and said,
My child,
What are you afraid of,
Is there a giant standing at the door ready to carry you away?
Oh no,
She answered,
No giant,
But a horrid frog.
And what does the frog want,
Asked the king.
Oh dear father,
She answered,
When I was sitting by the well yesterday and playing with my golden ball,
It fell into the water,
And while I was crying for the loss of it,
The frog came and got it again for me,
On the condition that I would let him be my companion.
I never thought that he could leave the water and come after me,
But now there he is,
Outside the door,
And he wants to come into me.
And then they all heard the frog knocking a second time and crying,
Remember me princess,
I live in the well.
Yesterday your golden ball fell into the well and I offered to help when I heard you crying,
So please let me in,
Please keep your promise.
If you have made a promise,
My daughter said the king,
You must keep it,
So go now and let him in.
So the princess went and opened the door and the frog hopped in,
Following at her heels,
Until she reached her chair.
Then he stopped and cried,
Lift me up to sit by you.
But she put off doing it until the king ordered her to.
Once the frog was seated on the chair,
He wanted to get onto the table,
And there he sat and said,
Now push your golden plate a little nearer so that we may eat together.
And so she did,
But everybody could see how unwilling she was,
And although the frog feasted heartily,
Every morsel seemed to stick in her throat.
I have had enough now,
Said the frog at last,
And as I am tired,
You must carry me to your room and make ready your silken bed,
And we will lie down and go to sleep.
Then the king's daughter began to weep.
She was afraid of the cold frog and knew that nothing would satisfy him but to sleep in her pretty clean bed.
The king grew angry with her,
Saying,
That which you have promised in your time of need,
You must now deliver.
So she picked up the frog with her finger and thumb,
Carried him upstairs,
And put him in a corner.
And when she had laid down in her bed to sleep,
He came creeping up to her,
Saying,
I am tired and want to sleep as much as you.
Pick me up,
Or I will tell your father.
The princess's patience with the frog was nearly at an end.
In anger,
She picked him up once more and was about to throw him through the doorway.
Then,
Remembering her father's words,
She stopped and dropped him onto the pillow instead.
Ah,
Said the frog as he snuggled down into the silken sheets,
Don't you love sleepovers?
The princess,
Pulling the covers over her head,
Curled up on the farthest edge of the mattress with her back to the frog and went to sleep.
And that is how it went for the next three days and nights.
The princess did all the things that a princess usually does,
But she was always accompanied by the little frog.
But a strange thing happened during those three days after the princess had made her promise.
The princess actually grew fond of the little frog.
On the evening of the third day,
The strangest thing of all happened.
Before blowing out the candle as they prepared to go to sleep,
The princess leaned over and kissed the frog good night.
In a twinkling,
The frog ceased to be a frog at all.
He became a handsome young prince with beautiful,
Kind eyes.
Immediately,
The princess and the prince ran downstairs to find the king.
The prince told how a wicked witch had imprisoned him in the body of a frog and that only the love of a princess could release him from the spell.
It was decided,
On that very day,
That when the prince and princess came of age,
They would marry and join their fortunes and their kingdoms together.
The next day,
A grand carriage arrived at the door of the castle.
It was drawn by eight white horses with tall white plumes on their heads,
And they were wearing harnesses of gold.
The carriage was sent by the princess' father to take the prince and princess back to his kingdom so they could share the happy news with his family.
On the carriage rode Henry,
The faithful servant of the young prince.
Henry had been so troubled and saddened when his master had turned into a frog that he found it necessary to wear three iron bands around his heart to keep it from breaking with grief.
Henry was now full of joy to see his master again.
After helping the royal pair into the carriage,
Henry jumped onto the carriage himself,
And they were soon off.
They had not gone very far when the prince heard a cracking sound as if something were breaking in the back of the carriage.
The prince turned and cried,
Henry,
The wheel must be breaking.
No,
Good prince,
Henry answered.
It is not the carriage,
It is only my heart,
Which is now so full of happiness at seeing you again that it breaks the iron bands that have kept it whole for all these years.
Again,
And yet once again,
The same cracking sound was heard as the remaining bands broke away from faithful Henry's joyful heart.
Ah,
The end.
Okay,
My darling,
It's time to go to sleep.
Remember,
You are so very loved.
Your heart is deeply good,
And I am glad you are here and that we are friends.
Sleep tight.
Enjoy this gentle music as you drift off to sleep.
May your dreams be full of love and light.
