{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/grimm/ht01.htm","path":"neu/grimm/ht01.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/grimm/ht01.htm","text":"The Frog-King, Or Iron Henry\nIn old times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose\ndaughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun\nitself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face.\nClose by the King's castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime -\ntree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King's\nchild went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain,\nand when she was dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and\ncaught it, and this ball was her favourite plaything.\nNow it so happened that on one occasion the princess' golden ball did\nnot fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the\nground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The King's daughter\nfollowed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep\nthat the bottom could not be seen. On this she began to cry, and cried louder\nand louder, and could not be comforted. And as she thus lamented, some one\nsaid to her, \"What ails thee, King's daughter? Thou weepest so that even a\nstone would show pity.\" She looked round to the side from whence the voice\ncame, and saw a frog stretching forth its thick, ugly head from the water.\n\"Ah! old water-splasher, is it thou?\" said she; \"I am weeping for my golden\nball, which has fallen into the well.\"\n\"Be quiet, and do not weep,\" answered the frog. \"I can help thee, but\nwhat wilt thou give me if I bring thy plaything up again?\" \"Whatever thou wilt\nhave, dear frog,\" said she - \"my clothes, my pearls and jewels, and even the\ngolden crown which I am wearing.\"\nThe frog answered, \"I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels,\nor thy golden crown, but if thou wilt love me and let me be thy companion and\nplay-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table, and eat off thy little\ngolden plate, and drink out of thy little cup, and sleep in thy little bed -\nif thou wilt promise me this I will go down below, and bring thee thy golden\nball up again.\"\n\"Oh, yes,\" said she, \"I promise thee all thou wishest, if thou wilt but\nbring me my ball back again.\" She, however, thought, \"How silly the frog does\ntalk! He lives in the water with the other frogs and croaks, and can be no\ncompanion to any human being!\"\nBut the frog when he had received this promise put his head into the\nwater and sank down, and in a short time came swimming up again with the ball\nin his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The King's daughter was delighted to\nsee her pretty plaything once more, and picked it up, and ran away with it.\n\"Wait, wait,\" said the frog. \"Take me with thee. I can't run as thou canst.\"\nBut what did it avail him to scream his croak, croak, after her, as loudly as\nhe could? She did not listen to it, but ran home and soon forgot the poor\nfrog, who was forced to go back into his well again.\nThe next day when she had seated herself at table with the King and all\nthe courtiers, and was eating from her little golden plate, something came\ncreeping splish, splash, splish, splash, up the marble staircase, and when it\nhad got to the top, it knocked at the door and cried, \"Princess, youngest\nprincess, open the door for me.\" She ran to see who was outside, but when she\nopened the door, there sat the frog in front of it. Then she slammed the door\nto, in great haste, sat down to dinner again, and was quite frightened. The\nKing saw plainly that her heart was beating violently, and said, \"My child,\nwhat art thou so afraid of? Is there perchance a giant outside who wants to\ncarry thee away?\" \"Ah, no,\" replied she, \"it is no giant, but a disgusting\nfrog.\"\n\"What does the frog want with thee?\" \"Ah, dear father, yesterday when I\nwas in the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into the\nwater. And because I cried so, the frog brought it out again for me, and\nbecause he insisted so on it, I promised him he should be my companion, but I\nnever thought he would be able to come out of his water! And now he is outside\nthere, and wants to come in to me.\"\nIn the meantime it knocked a second time, and cried,\n\"Princess! youngest princess!\nOpen the door for me!\nDost thou not know what thou saidst to me\nYesterday by the cool waters of the fountain?\nPrincess, youngest princess!\nOpen the door for me!\"\nThen said the King, \"That which thou hast promised, must thou perform. Go\nand let him in.\" She went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in and\nfollowed her, step by step, to her chair. There he sat still and cried, \"Lift\nme up beside thee.\" She delayed, until at last the King commanded her to do\nit. When the frog was once on the chair he wanted to be on the table, and when\nhe was on the table he said, \"Now, push thy little golden plate nearer to me\nthat we may eat together.\" She did this, but it was easy to see that she did\nnot do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what he ate, but almost every mouthful\nshe took choked her. At length he said, \"I have eaten and am satisfied; now I\nam tired, carry me into thy little room and make thy little silken bed ready,\nand we will both lie down and go to sleep.\"\nThe King's daughter began to cry, for she was afraid of the cold frog\nwhich she did not like to touch, and which was now to sleep in her pretty,\nclean little bed. But the King grew angry and said, \"He who helped thee when\nthou wert in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by thee.\" So she took\nhold of the frog with two fingers, carried him upstairs, and put him in a\ncorner. But when she was in bed he crept to her and said, \"I am tired, I want\nto sleep as well as thou, lift me up or I will tell thy father.\" Then she was\nterribly angry, and took him up and threw him with all her might against the\nwall. \"Now, thou wilt be quiet, odious frog,\" said she. But when he fell down\nhe was no frog but a king's son with beautiful, kind eyes. He by her father's\nwill was now her dear companion and husband. Them he told her how he had been\nbewitched by a wicked witch, and how no one could have delivered him from the\nwell but herself, and that to-morrow they would go together into his\nkingdom. Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke them, a\ncarriage came driving up with eight white horses, which had white ostrich\nfeathers on their heads, and were harnessed with golden chains, and behind\nstood the young King's servant, faithful Henry. Faithful Henry had been so\nunhappy when his master was changed into a frog, that he had caused three iron\nbands to be laid round his heart, lest it should burst with grief and sadness.\nThe carriage was to conduct the young King into his kingdom. Faithful Henry\nhelped them both in, and placed himself behind again, and was full of joy\nbecause of this deliverance. And when they had driven a part of the way, the\nKing's son heard a cracking behind him as if something had broken. So he\nturned round and cried, \"Henry, the carriage is breaking.\"\n\"No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart, which\nwas put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned in the\nwell.\" Again and once again while they were on their way something cracked,\nand each time the King's son thought the carriage was breaking; but it was\nonly the bands which were springing from the heart of faithful Henry because\nhis master was set free and was happy.","title":"The Frog-King, Or Iron Henry","type":"page"}