The Frog Prince

On the royal carriage rode a servant named Henry, wrapped in a thick cloak that hid something strange underneath. Around his chest, three iron bands were bound tight. They had stayed there, silent, for a long, long time. They were not for warmth, and they were not ornaments. The three bands were fastened on the very day his heart ached so badly that it seemed about to break. Only on a very different morning would they burst open, one by one, right on the main road. To understand why, the story has to go back to the beginning, to a small golden ball that fell with a plop to the bottom of a deep well in the middle of a forest.

Two German scholars, the Brothers Grimm, once wrote down a great many old tales, told to them by storytellers they knew. They chose this very story for the first page of a great book of old tales. The tale goes that a king had several daughters, all of them beautiful. But the youngest was so lovely that even the sun paused for a moment each time it shone on her face, and the sun had seen so many wonders in the world. Near the castle stood an old, thick forest, and in the middle of it was a deep, cool well. On hot days, the princess liked to sit at the edge of the well, tossing and catching a small golden ball, the toy she loved most.

One day, the golden ball slipped past her hand, dropped straight into the mouth of the well and vanished. The princess leaned over the deep water. She could see no bottom at all, only hear the water lapping somewhere below, and she burst into tears. Just then, a voice rose from the water and asked why she was crying. The princess looked down and saw a frog poking its head above the surface, its big round eyes fixed on her. When she told it about the ball, the frog said it could dive down and bring it up. But in return, she must take it as her friend. It must sit at her table, eat from her golden plate, drink from her cup and sleep in her bed every night. The princess was so glad that she agreed at once. Secretly she thought that a tiny frog could never leave its pond and find its way to the palace. So she promised lightly, without a second thought.

The frog dove in one breath to the bottom of the deep well. After a while it came back up with the golden ball in its mouth and dropped it on the grass before the princess. The moment she saw the ball, she snatched it up in delight. Then she ran straight back to the palace without a single glance behind her. The frog called after her, begging her to remember her promise. But its voice only echoed through the empty forest, and the princess had long since disappeared behind the trees.

The next evening, as the princess sat at dinner with the king and his court, something came crawling up the stone stairs. It moved slowly and wetly, leaving a long trail of water behind it. Then a knock sounded at the great door. A small voice called in, asking the youngest princess to open it. She opened the door a crack and saw the frog from the well sitting there, waiting. Terrified, she slammed the door shut. Clack. Pale as a sheet, she went back to the table, her hands still trembling on the arm of her chair. Seeing his daughter turn pale, the king asked what was wrong. So the princess told him about the golden ball and the promise she had made. When she finished, the king said sternly that a promise made must be kept. She must not let down someone who had helped her in her hour of need. So the princess opened the door. The frog hopped into the room, leaving little wet marks on the cold stone floor. Then it asked to sit on the chair beside her, right at the table.

The frog sat quietly on the chair for a while. Then it asked the princess to push her little golden plate closer, so that the two of them could eat together. She wrinkled her nose and wanted to shove it away, but her father's stern look made her obey. The frog ate with great appetite. Its loud chewing filled a room that was used only to the soft clink of knives and forks. The princess swallowed only a few mouthfuls for form's sake. Her throat felt tight, and her eyes never left the tablecloth.

When dinner was over, the frog stretched and said it was full. Now it only wanted to be carried up to her bedroom and laid in her soft silk bed, so they could rest together. At that, the princess burst into tears. She begged her father not to make her do it, and her tears fell onto her dress. But the king stayed firm. Anyone who had helped her in hard times, he said, must never later be scorned or cast aside. Choking back sobs, the princess carried the frog upstairs, and every step seemed heavier under her feet. She dawdled, set the frog in a corner far from her bed, and only then lay down, pulling the covers up to her chin. The room was pitch dark, with only the sound of her breathing. After a while, something came scraping closer across the wooden floor. The frog reminded her of what she had promised. Its voice was still soft, but it firmly refused to go away.

At this, all the resentment she had held back for so long welled up at once. The princess could not hold it in any longer, and she reached out and picked the frog up. She held her breath. She only wanted to be done with it quickly, and in her anger she carried the frog toward the wall. In that instant, a dazzling light burst through the whole room, warm as a small flame just catching. Then everything fell still.

When the light faded, there was no frog in front of the princess anymore. Instead there stood a handsome prince with gentle, warm eyes. He told her he was the son of a king in a faraway land. A wicked witch had cursed him, turned him into a frog and kept him at the bottom of the deep well in the forest. Only the princess had the power to break that curse for him. When the king heard the story, he was overjoyed and took the prince as his son-in-law. As for the princess, she looked at the prince and slowly grew fond of the strange companion who had followed her all the way from the well.

The next morning, just as the sun came up, a carriage drawn by eight white horses arrived at the castle gate. It had come to take the prince home to his kingdom. The horses wore ostrich plumes in their manes and harnesses studded with gold. At the back of the carriage stood the faithful servant, Henry. While the prince was still a frog, Henry had grieved so deeply that he had three iron bands bound around his chest. They kept his heart from breaking with sorrow for his master. Now, seeing the prince set free, Henry joyfully helped them both into the carriage. Then he went back to his place at the back of the carriage.

The carriage had gone only a little way when the prince suddenly heard a loud noise from behind. Startled, he thought a wooden beam in the carriage had just snapped. He called out to ask Henry whether the carriage was breaking. Henry answered that it was not the carriage. It was the first iron band around his chest, which had just burst open with joy at seeing his master free of the frog's skin. A little farther on, another crack rang out, and this time it was the second band. Before the road was done, the sound came a third time. The last band sprang loose. Three cracks. Three bands. Each crack was one band leaving the chest of the faithful servant. And his heart, after being bound so long in sorrow, now beat freely and lightly, steady as the turning wheels on the road home.