Once upon a time, a King had a beautiful daughter. She played every day in the palace garden with her golden ball that she liked very much. She enjoyed playing and watching the sunlight glinting on it.
One day as the princess was throwing it up and catching it, the ball bounced right out of her hands towards the pool near by. It was a deep pool. She sat down beside a log of wood near the pool and began to weep because she could not reach her ball.
Suddenly, she heard a voice say, “Why are you crying?”
She looked up and around and there was no one in sight. A little frightened, she wondered who could have spoken. Then she found a fat, green frog sitting near her. “Ugh! A nasty frog! I’ve lost my ball,” she said, “It’s fallen into the pool and I can’t find it.”
“I’ll find it for you,” offered the frog, “But what will you give me in return.”
“Oh, jewel, silks, anything!” the Princess said.
“I don’t want all that,” replied the frog, “But you must promise to love me and keep me with you, share your plate when you eat and let me sleep in your bed.”
The Princess didn’t like the slimy, green frog at all, but she wanted her ball. So, she quickly promised to accept all his conditions.
The frog grinned and jumped with a splash into the pool. In a few moments, he came back and held out the golden ball to the Princess.
She took it hurriedly and with a brief thanks ran off to the palace.
“Don’t forget your promise!” called the frog after her.
That night when the Princess sat down for dinner with her father, a sound was heard. Flop-splash-splotch-flop! A knock sounded on the door and a voice cried, “Let me in, Princess!” The Princess opened the door to find the fat frog sitting there, grinning. She shut the door and came back, but her father noticed that she was completely upset and frightened.
He coaxed the truth out of her. “A frog, father, who brought my golden ball out of the pool and made me promise that I would allow him to live with me, eat from my plate and sleep in my bed!”
The King was a person who was always fair. So, he told the Princess, “If you have made a promise, you must always keep it always.”
So, the Princess opened the door again and, very reluctantly, brought the frog inside. The frog hopped in behind her and asked to be put on the table.
The frog looked at all the dishes and sat near the Princess eating each dish on her plate. She was disgusted with him, but couldn’t do anything.
Finally, he finished his dinner and hopped on to her lap, saying, “Time to sleep, Princess. Let’s go!”
In her chamber, he hopped on to her bed and snuggled into the soft, silken sheets. The Princess could do nothing except put up with the frightful frog. She cried herself to sleep.
For three days this went on, and every night, the Princess wept. On the morning of the fourth day, she awoke to find the frog gone. Near the window stood a charming Prince with a beautiful smile and kind eyes.
He came and stood beside her, saying, “Thank you Princess, for breaking the curse that made me a frog! I had been bewitched and the spell would break only if a kind girl allowed me to share her plate and sleep near her, in spite of my ugly form as a frog.” He knelt and asked her, “Will you marry me and come to my kingdom?”
The King was very happy to find such a wonderful Prince for his daughter. And so the Princess married the Prince and she went happily and cheerfully to his kingdom.
