Presently
she heard a voice exclaiming: "Why do you weep, O king's
daughter? Your tears could melt even the stones to pity you!"In olden time when people could have all they wished for at once, lived a king who had many beautiful daughters; but the youngest was so lovely, that the sun himself would wonder whenever he shone on her face. Near to the king's castle lay a dark, gloomy forest, in the midst of which stood an old linden tree, shading with its foliage the pleasant waters of a fountain.
One day, when the weather was very hot, the king's daughter came into the forest, and seated herself on the side of the cool fountain, and when at last the silence became wearisome, she began to toss a golden ball in the air, and catch it again, as an amusement. Presently, however, the king's daughter failed to catch the golden ball in her hand, so that it fell on the ground, and rolled over the grass into the water. The princess followed it with her eyes till it disappeared, for the water was so deep that she could not see the bottom. Then she cried aloud , and began to weep bitterly for the loss of her golden ball.
Presently
she heard a voice exclaiming: "Why do you weep, O king's
daughter? Your tears could melt even the stones to pity you!"
She looked at the spot from whence the voice came, and saw a frog stretching his thick ugly head put of the water. "Oh! There you are old water-paddler," she said. "Well, then, I am crying for the loss of my golden ball that has fallen into the fountain."
"Then weep no more," answered the frog; "I can get it for you. But what will you give me if I fetch your plaything?"
"Oh! Anything you like, dear frog," she replied. "What will you have - my dresses, my pearls and jewels, or the golden crown I wear sometimes?"
"Neither," answered the frog. "Your clothes, your pearls and jewels, or even your golden crown, are nothing to me. I want you to love me, and let me be your companion and playfellow. I should like to sit at your table, eat from a golden plate, and drink out of your cup, and sleep in your nice little bed. If you will promise me all this, then I will dive down into the water and bring up your pretty golden ball."
"Oh yes!" she replied. "I will promise you anything you like if you will only bring up my ball again.' But she thought to herself that a silly, chattering frog as he was, living in the water with others like himself, and croaking, could not be fit to associate with mankind.
The frog, who believed in the promise of the king's daughter, dipped his head under the water, and sank down to the bottom, where he quickly found the ball, and seizing it in his mouth, carried it to the surface and threw it on the grass. When the king's daughter saw the beautiful plaything, she was full of joy, and, catching it up, ran away as fast as she could run.
"Wait, wait," cried the
frog, "take me with you, I cannot run so fast as you can."
But the young princess would
not listen to the frog's croaking; she got to the house as fast
as she could, and soon forgot the poor frog, who was obliged to
return to the fountain, and remain there. The next day, however,
while the princess was sitting with the king and his courtiers,
and eating out of her own little golden plate, she heard a strange
noise on the marble steps outside, splish, splash, splish, splash,
and presently came a knock at the door, and a voice cried, "Lovely
princess, open the door for me." So she rose and went to
see who could be outside; but when she caught sight of the frog,
she closed the door hastily and seated herself again at the table,
looking quite pale. The king, seeing that his daughter was alarmed,
said to her, "My child, what is there at the door? Is it
a giant come to carry you away?"
"Oh no, my father!" she replied; "It is no giant, only a great ugly frog."
"A frog! What can he want with you, my daughter?"
"Ah, my dear father, I will tell you all about it. Yesterday, when I was playing with my golden ball by the fountain in the forest, I let it fall into the water, an dbecause I cried, the frog fetched it out for me, and he made me promise that he should come to the castle and be my companion, for I thought he could not get out of the water to come to me, and now here he is."
Just then came a second knock at the door, and a voice cried:
"King's
daughter, king's daughter, open for me;"Then," sain the king,
"my daughter, you must keep your promise; go and let him
in at once." So she was obliged to go and open the door,
and the frog hopped in after her close to her feet and quite up
to her chair. But when she sat down he cried: "Take me up
by you." She would not at first, till her father obliged
her to lift the frog on the chair by her side. He was no sooner
there than he jumped upon the table and said: "Now, then,
push your little golden plate nearer, and we will eat together."
The princess did as he told her, but everyone could see how much
she disliked it. The frog seemed to relish his dinner very much,
but he would give the princee half 
of
all he took. At last he said: "I have eaten and drank quite
enough, and I feel very tired, so now carry me upstairs into your
little bedroom, and make your silken bed ready, that we may sleep
together."
When the princess heard this, she began to weep, for she was really afraid of the cold frog: she could not even touch him, and now he actually wanted to sleep in her neat beautiful little bed. But the king was displeased at her tears and he said: "He who helped you when you were in trouble must not be despised now." So the young princess found she must obey. Then she took the frog with two fingers, and holdeing him as far from her as possible, she carried him upstairs and placed him in a corner of her room. In the evening, however, as soon as the princess was in bed, the frog crept out of his corner and said to her: "I am so tired; lift me up, and let me sleep in your bed, or I will tell your father."
On hearing this, the princess fell
into a great passion, so seizing the frog in her hand, she dashed
him with all her strength against the wall, saying: "You
will be 
quiet now, I hope,
you ugly frog." But as he fell, how surprised she was to
see the frog change into a handsome young prince, with beautiful
friendly eyes, who afterwards became her constant companion, and
at last her father gave his consent to their marriage.
Before it took place, however, the prince told them his history, how he had been changed into a frog by a wicked witch, and that she has condemded him to live in the fountains until a king's daughter should come and release him. No one else in the world had the power to do so.
After they were married, the young
prince proposed that he should take his bride to his own kingdom.
So on the wedding-day a splendid carriage drawn by eight white
horses drove up to the door. They had white feathers on their
heads and golden harnesses, and by the side of the carriage stood
the prince's steward, the faithful Harry. This faithful Harry
had been so unhappy when his master was
changed into a frog, that he had fastened three iron bands round
his heart, to prevent it from bursting with woe and sorrow.
The carriage with the prince and hid bride soon drove away with Harry behind in his old place, and full of joy at the release of his master. They had not traveled far when they heard a loud crack -- as if something had broken. Now, the prince knew nothing of the iron bands round his servant's heart, so he cried out: "Harry, is the carriage breaking?"
"No, sire," he replied, "only the iron bands which I bound round my heart for fear it should burst with sorrow while you were a frog confined to the fountain. They are breaking now because I am so happy to see my master restored to his own shape, and travelling to his kingdom with a beautiful bride."
The prince and the princess never forgot faithful Harry, who had loved his master so well while he was in trouble.
The pictures, in the order they appear, are from these wonderful books.
Images 1 & 6 are scans from 'The Frog Prince or Iron Henry' by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Illustrated bt Binette Schroeder; Translated by Naomi Lewis; Copyright © 1989 Nord-Sud Verlag AG, Gossau Zurich, Switzerland; English translation Copyright © 1989 by Naomi Lewis
Image 2 is a scan from 'The Frog Prince' retold by Jan Ormerod and David Lloyd; Illustrated by Jan Ormerod; Text Copyright © 1990 by Jan Omerod and David Lloyd; Illustrations Copyright © 1990 by Jan Omerod
Image 3 is a scan from 'A Frog Prince' written and illustrated by Alix Berenzy; Copyright © 1989 by Alix Berenzy
Image 4 is a scan from 'The Candlewick Book of Fairy Tales' retold by Sarah Hayes; Illustrated by P.J. Lynch; Text copyright © 1985 by Sarah Hayes; Illustration Copyright © 1993 by P.J. Lynch
Image 5 & the background are scans from 'The Classic Grimm's Fairy Tales' retold by Louise Betts Egan; Illustrated by Erin Wise, Karen Pritchett, Kay Life, Jada Rowland, Arlene Klemushin, Julia Noonan, & Richard Walz; Text, illustrations, and design Copyright © 1989 by Armand Eisen
