The Frog-Prince

The Frog-Prince is an old fairy tale from Germany. Two brothers, the Brothers Grimm, wrote it down. This English version came out in 1823. Many people love this story very much.

In this story, there is a young princess. She has a ball made of gold. She loves to play with it.

One nice evening, she goes into the woods alone. She sits down by a cool spring of water. She throws her ball up in the air again and again. But one time, she throws it too high. The ball falls into the water. The water is very deep. She cannot see the bottom. The princess starts to cry.

Then a frog comes up out of the water. He says, "I can get your ball for you." But he wants something. He wants to eat from her plate. He also wants to sleep on her bed. The princess thinks, "This frog is silly. He can never leave the water." So she says yes. The frog goes down and brings back the ball. The princess takes it and runs home. She leaves the frog there.

That evening, the king and the princess are eating dinner. Then something starts to come up the big stone stairs. What is it?

That evening, the princess and the king are at the dinner table. Suddenly, they hear a strange sound on the stone stairs. Tap, tap, plash, plash. Then a small voice at the door says, "Open the door, my princess dear!"

It is the frog. The princess is scared. She runs back to her chair. But the king says, "You made a promise. You must keep it."

So the princess does as he says. The frog comes in. He eats from her gold plate. Then he wants to sleep on her pillow. She does not want this, but she takes him up to her room. In the morning, the frog goes away. The princess thinks, "Good! He is gone now."

But the princess is wrong. At night, she hears the same sound at the door. The frog is back. Again the little voice says, "Open the door, my princess dear!" They are the same words. It is the same song.

The princess opens the door. The frog sleeps on her pillow all night. In the morning, he goes away again.

On the third night, the same thing happens. The same sound. The same song. The same frog on her pillow.

For three nights, the princess keeps her promise. But she does not know what will happen next.

On the fourth morning, the princess wakes up. The frog is not there. Now a good-looking prince is standing by her bed.

He tells her his story. Long ago, a bad fairy put a spell on him. She made him a frog. But the princess kept her promise for three nights. Because of this, the spell is broken.

The prince and the princess get married. They go to his country in a big carriage with eight horses. His kind servant Heinrich goes with them. Heinrich waited a long time for his master. They all live happily ever after.

In a famous version of this story, a kiss breaks the spell. But in this 1823 English version, there is no kiss. A kept promise does the magic. The first German book from 1812 tells it in a different way again. Also, listen for some old English words, like "thy" and "thou." They mean "your" and "you."

The Frog-Prince is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. This English translation, by Edgar Taylor, was published in 1823, and it has become one of the most popular fairy tales in English literature.

The story is about a young princess who owns a golden ball. Playing with it is her favorite thing to do.

One pleasant evening, she walks alone into the woods and sits down beside a cool spring. She keeps throwing the ball into the air, but before long she throws it too high. The ball rolls into the spring, which is so deep that she cannot see the bottom. The princess begins to cry.

Just then, a frog raises his head out of the water. He offers to bring the ball back, but only on one condition: the princess must let him eat from her plate and sleep on her bed. The princess thinks the frog is being ridiculous. However, she agrees, because she is sure he can never leave the spring. The frog dives down and returns with the ball, and the princess hurries home, leaving him behind without a second thought.

That evening, however, while the king and his daughter are having dinner, something strange begins to climb the marble staircase.

That evening, the princess and the king sit down to dinner. All of a sudden, they hear an odd sound on the marble stairs: tap, tap, plash, plash. Then a small voice at the door calls out, "Open the door, my princess dear!"

The frog has arrived. Terrified, the princess runs back to her seat. The king, however, tells her firmly, "You gave your word, so you must keep it."

The princess does as she is told. The frog hops inside, eats from her golden plate, and then asks to sleep on her pillow. Although she hates the idea, she carries him upstairs. In the morning, he hops away. "At last I am free of him," she thinks.

But the princess is mistaken. When night falls, she hears the same tapping at her door. The frog is back. Once again, the little voice calls, "Open the door, my princess dear!" — exactly the same words and the same song.

The princess lets him in. The frog sleeps on her pillow until morning, and then he hops away.

On the third night, the same thing happens again. The same tap at the door. The same song. The same frog on her pillow.

For three nights in a row, the princess has kept her promise, although she still has no idea what will come of it.

On the fourth morning, the princess wakes up, and the frog is gone. In his place, a handsome prince is standing at the head of her bed.

He explains everything. Long ago, a cruel fairy put a curse on him. Because the princess kept her promise for three nights, the spell is now broken.

The two get married and travel to the prince's kingdom in a coach pulled by eight horses. With them rides Heinrich, the loyal servant who has waited a long time for his master. They live happily ever after.

You may know the famous version in which a kiss breaks the spell. In this 1823 translation by Edgar Taylor, however, it is a kept promise, not a kiss, that does the magic. In fact, the Grimms' first edition from 1812 is different again. Also listen for the older English, such as "thy" and "thou."

The Frog-Prince belongs to the celebrated corpus of folk tales compiled by the Brothers Grimm. Edgar Taylor's English rendering, published in 1823, introduced the story to British readers, and it has since secured a place among the most cherished fairy tales in the English-speaking world.

At its centre is a young princess whose most treasured possession is a golden ball, a plaything she seldom lets out of her sight.

One balmy evening, she wanders into the woods unaccompanied and settles beside a cool spring. She amuses herself by tossing the ball aloft, until, inevitably, she flings it too high. It tumbles into the spring, whose depths are so unfathomable that no bottom can be discerned, and the princess dissolves into tears.

At that moment, a frog emerges from the water and proposes a bargain: he will retrieve the ball, provided that the princess allows him to dine from her plate and repose upon her bed. Dismissing the creature's demand as absurd, she consents, confident that he could never venture beyond the spring. The frog plunges into the depths and resurfaces with the ball, whereupon the princess flees homeward, abandoning her rescuer without a backward glance.

Yet that very evening, as the king and his daughter are at dinner, something uncanny begins to ascend the marble staircase.

That evening, the princess and her father the king take their places at the dinner table. Abruptly, a peculiar noise drifts up from the marble stairs, a rhythmic tap, tap, plash, plash, followed by a diminutive voice at the threshold: "Open the door, my princess dear!"

The frog has come to claim his due. Aghast, the princess scurries back to her seat, but the king is unmoved: "You pledged your word, and you are bound to honour it."

Reluctantly, the princess complies. The frog hops inside, partakes of the meal from her golden plate, and then requests to sleep upon her pillow. Recoiling at the prospect, she nonetheless carries him upstairs. At daybreak he hops away, and she consoles herself with the thought that she is at last rid of him.

Her relief, however, proves premature. As darkness falls, the identical tapping resounds at her door, heralding the frog's return. Once more the small voice intones, "Open the door, my princess dear!" — the very same words, the very same refrain.

The princess admits him, and the frog slumbers on her pillow until dawn before hopping away as before.

On the third night, the ritual recurs with uncanny precision: the same tap, the same refrain, the same frog ensconced upon her pillow.

Thus, for three consecutive nights, the princess has dutifully honoured her pledge, though she remains wholly oblivious to what her constancy will ultimately bring about.

On the fourth morning, the princess awakens to discover that the frog has vanished. Standing in his stead at the head of her bed is a handsome prince.

He proceeds to unravel the mystery. Long ago, a malevolent fairy had laid a curse upon him, and it is the princess's steadfast fidelity to her promise over three nights that has at last dissolved the enchantment.

The pair are wed and set off for the prince's kingdom in a coach drawn by eight horses. Accompanying them is Heinrich, the devoted servant who has endured a long vigil awaiting his master's deliverance. They live happily ever after.

Many readers will be familiar with the popular rendition in which a kiss breaks the spell. In Edgar Taylor's 1823 translation, by contrast, the transformation is wrought not by a kiss but by a promise faithfully kept, while the Grimms' original 1812 edition diverges yet again. Listen, too, for the archaic diction of Taylor's English, with its venerable pronouns "thy" and "thou."