“The Frog Prince.” A Selection from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Gilbert James, London: Siegle, Hill and Co., [c. 1900], pp. 3-14.

Tale Summary

In olden times, the king had a beautiful young daughter, who often amused herself by sitting at the side of a fountain in the woods and throwing a golden ball up in the air to catch. One day, she drops it and loses it in the water. A voice soothes her when she cries and tells her that if she promises to love him (eat with him, play with him, drink with him, and sleep with him, all by extension), he will retrieve her ball for her. She makes a promise and immediately breaks it once the ball is returned, and runs back to the castle. The next day, the frog arrives. The princess explains, mortified, to the king about her unkept promise, and he urges her to fulfill it. She eats with him, but when he demands to sleep with her, she grabs him and throws him against the wall. He then turns into a handsome prince, who explains he was transformed into a frog by an evil witch. The prince and princess become betrothed and start off toward his kingdom. Henry, the servant of the prince, had bound three iron bands around his heart for fear it would break, and now, the bands broke out of joy for his return.