The Frog King

A princess dropped her golden ball into a well in the forest, and a frog offered to fetch it out. He wanted one thing in return. He wanted to be her companion, to eat from her plate and to sleep in her bed. She promised. She promised because he was a frog and she did not believe a single word of it would ever happen.

The next evening something came up the marble stair and knocked.

Her father the king listened to the whole story and put down his knife. What you have promised, you must keep. He was not angry, which made it worse. She let the frog in. She let him eat off her plate while she ate nothing at all. She carried him upstairs when she was told to.

Then, in her own room, in the dark, the frog told her to lift him into the bed or he would tell her father.

She lost her temper and threw him at the wall.

What came away from the wall was a young man with very kind eyes. A witch had put him down that well, and only she could have got him out.

They were married and rode away in a carriage. At the back of it stood a servant called Heinrich, who had worn three iron bands round his heart since the day his master was cursed, so that it would not break. On the road they snapped, one after another. He said it was nothing. He had never mentioned them once.