The king's daughter began to weep because she was afraid of the cold clammy frog She didn't like to touch him and now she must let him sleep in her lovely clean little bed But the king was angry and said If someone helps you in your hour of need then you must not despise him afterwards So she picked up the frog with the tips of two fingers carried him to her bedchamber and put him down in a corner However when she was lying in bed he came crawling up and said I'm tired I want to sleep in as much comfort as you so pick me up or I'll tell your father At that she lost her temper seized the frog and threw him against the wall with all her might saying That will keep you quiet you nasty frog However when he fell to the floor he wasn't a frog any more he had turned into a king's son with kind and beautiful eyes And now as her father the king wished he was to be her dear friend and her husband He told her that a wicked witch had cast a spell on him and no one but the king's youngest daughter could break the spell and release him from the water in the well Tomorrow he said they would go off to his own kingdom together Then they went to sleep and at sunrise next morning a carriage drawn by eight white horses came driving up The horses had white ostrich plumes on their heads and were harnessed to the carriage with golden chains and behind the carriage stood the young king's servant Faithful Henry Faithful Henry had been so upset when his master was turned into a frog that he had had three iron bands fastened around his heart to keep it from breaking with misery and sadness Now that the carriage was to take the young king away to his kingdom Faithful Henry helped him and his young wife into it got up behind them again and was full of joy to see that the spell had been broken When they had gone part of the way the king's son heard a cracking noise behind him like something breaking So he turned round and called Henry the carriage is breaking But Faithful Henry replied No sir that was my heart waking Cracking one of the iron bands Forged around it when from your lands You were exiled by the witch's spell To be a frog and live in a well As they drove along there was a second cracking sound and then a third and each time the king's son thought the carriage was breaking but it was only the iron bands falling away from Faithful Henry's heart because now his master was released from the spell and was happy 10
THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN YOUNG KIDS 11
Once upon a time there was an old nanny goat who had seven young kids and she loved them dearly just as any mother loves her children One day when she wanted to go into the forest and look for food she called all seven to her and said Dear children I'm going into the forest so you must be on your guard against the wolf If he gets into this house he'll eat you all up He often pretends to be someone else but you'll know him by his rough voice and his black paws Dear Mother said the kids we'll take good care so you go out and don't worry about us So the old goat bleated goodbye and set off with her mind at rest It wasn't long before someone knocked at the door of the house and called Open the door dear children here's your mother back bringing something nice for each of you But the kids could hear from his rough voice that he was the wolf No they replied you're not our mother She has a kind gentle voice but your voice is rough You're the wolf The wolf went away to a shop where he bought a big piece of chalk he ate it to soften his voice Then he came back knocked on the door of the house and called Open the door dear children here's your mother back bringing something nice for each of you But the wolf had put one of his black paws on the window sill and the goat's children saw it and said We won't open the door our mother doesn't have a black paw like you You're the wolf Then the wolf went to a baker and said I've hurt my paw Put some dough on it please And when the baker had spread dough over his paw he went to the miller and said Sprinkle some white flour over my paw The miller thought the wolf wants to deceive someone And he was unwilling to do it but the wolf said If you don't do as I say I'm going to eat you up Then the miller was frightened and made the wolf's paw look white That's human nature for you Now the wicked wolf went to the door of the goat's house for the third time knocked on the door and said Open the door dear children here's your mother back bringing something out of the forest for each of you Show us your paw first called the kids so that we'll know if you're really our dear mother Then the wolf put his paw on the window sill and when they saw that it was white they believed that what he said was true and opened the door However it wasn't 12
