The Frog
And
The Princess
©1983,
1992
Once,
there was a boy who was so little that He looked as if He were four years old
when He was really eight. Because of this, and because He loved swimming so
much, His friends called Him Frog. His family was as large as He was small,
because five cousins and one uncle lived with Him, His sister, and His parents.
Three of these cousins were orphans – Their parents had been killed when They tried to stop some soldiers from stealing the family’s
cow. This cow gave lots of good milk, but the soldiers wanted to eat her, so They did. And if the cow’s owners wanted to stop Them,
They’d just have to be killed. So They were, leaving
three young children without any parents. When that happened They
went to live with Frog’s family. Frog’s other uncle and His two children came
to live there too, because His wife, Their mother, had
gone to the king, to tell Him about what the soldiers had done. And the king
had thrown Her in prison. So seven children and three
adults lived together in one house.
They
were quite poor, and would have been even poorer if it hadn’t been for Frog.
Frog’s parents wove cane baskets, and His uncle made jam, when there was fruit
to pick. They sold the baskets and the jam in the markets of five different
villages. Early in the morning, five days a week, They’d
load up the family cart with baskets and pots of jam. Then two of the adults
would drive the cart to whichever village had its market
that day, and one would stay home to look after the children and prepare the
evening meal. They took it in turns. And Frog? Frog
would sometimes go with the cart to market and sometimes stay in Their own village, which was by the walls of the king’s
palace. He'd go up near the palace gates with His sister Lucy, who was seven
years old, but looked older than Frog. She’d pretend to be looking after Him,
so that no grown-ups would worry about such a young child wandering about on
His own. That would’ve caused problems.
But,
usually, nobody noticed Him at all – He was so small, so quick, and blended
into the background so well, in the clothes His mother had made for Him. Clothes as brown as the ground so that they were hard to see, and
with especially deep pockets to hold the things that He would steal.
Didn’t His
parents get upset that Their naughty little boy stole,
You might ask? No, indeed. Remember that it was His
mother who made His pockets so big. She used to say: “Only the poor are called
thieves when They steal.” Frog’s family was used to
people stealing from Them. Laughing ladies and
gentlemen from the palace who stopped at Their market
stall and playfully opened pots of jam to taste them. “Not sweet enough,”
They’d say, and refuse to pay. Another pot of jam that
couldn't be sold. Or soldiers with Their heavy
boots would step on a cane basket and laugh: “Not very strong, is it?” They’d
say, and slap each other on the back, laughing down the street, stealing fruit
and pies from other stalls. Nobody complained. They all knew what had happened
to Frog’s aunts and uncle.
Frog’s
parents were glad of what His stealing would buy for the family. They only laid
down two rules for Him: that He only steal from people rich enough to not need
what was stolen, or from soldiers; and that He not get caught. And Frog wasn't
that naughty: He obeyed these two rules.
But Frog
didn't go out stealing every day. There are other things in life. And one of
Frog’s favourite things, as I think I've already said, was swimming. Swimming
in ponds and streams: anywhere where there was water. Sometimes He'd go
swimming with His whole family or with friends. Sometimes He went on His own.
And it was one time when He was on His own
that He met the princess. Frog was lying sunning Himself on a large rock by a
pool in a meadow near the palace walls, when the princess came down to the
meadow to play, accompanied by Her ladies-in-waiting (and a bodyguard of
soldiers, to be sure). The princess began playing with Her
favourite toy – a ball of solid gold. A fairly silly thing to make a ball out
of, You might say, but there You go: the princess
wouldn't have played with any other kind. She liked to remind Herself that the ball She was rolling in Her hands, throwing
into the air and catching, was worth more than the village outside the palace
gates. More than three villages. More
than the ladies-in-waiting’s finery and the soldiers’ armour. More than
the ladies or the soldiers Themselves. Silly thoughts
to be running through the head of a young woman, but there You
go again: the princess hardly had thoughts of any other kind.
She ran
along, threw the ball into the air, and caught it. Threw the ball into the air,
and caught it. Tripped over a stone. Threw the ball
into the air, and Herself onto the ground. When She looked up, She saw Her lovely golden ball, worth more
than three villages, fall into the pond, with a splash that was worth a couple
of houses.
“Somebody
get Our ball for Us!” She cried. (You see, the
princess thought She was worth more than ordinary
people, so She called Herself “We”, as if She were more than one person.)
“Somebody get Our ball for Us!” She’d cried, and the
ladies-in-waiting looked nervous. The soldiers looked nervous. Water was wet
and finery was fine. Armour was heavy and... here was
a naked little boy whom They hadn't noticed (Frog knew how not to be noticed,
and all this time He'd been watching and listening, as still as a frog just
before the fly disappears.) Here, then, was this naked little boy, standing in
front of the princess, piping up: “Please, Yer Lady, I'll get Yer ball for You if... if You'll take Me to see the palace.”
“Yes,
yes: anything! Quick – before it gets any wetter!”
So Frog
dived in and swam out to where the ball had disappeared. (“He swims like a
frog!” said one of the ladies-in-waiting, and everybody laughed.) Then Frog
disappeared too. After a full minute, He came to the surface again, a little
closer to the edge of the pond. He took a breath and dived again. Another
minute and He reappeared, closer still.
“What
are You doing?!” shouted the princess, “Can't You find
it?”
But He
was already under water again. Half a minute later, He surfaced again, even
closer, and started walking slowly towards the edge. “Too heavy to swim with,”
He explained, “had to carry it along the bottom.” He came out of the water, and
gave the princess Her ball. She snatched it away from
Him, and, without a word of thanks, turned away. “Come!” She said to Her ladies-in-waiting, and started off towards the palace.
“Please,
Yer Lady, I've just got to put My clothes on, if
You'll wait a bit,” said Frog. And the princess turned around.
“Wait
for You?!” She snorted. “Why should We wait for You?”
“Please,
Yer Lady, You promised to take me to the palace.”
“We
don’t keep promises to... to frogs!” She sneered. “And especially not to frogs
who don’t know enough to address Us as ‘Your
Highness’.” And with that, She strode off, followed by
laughing ladies-in-waiting (and the soldiers, to be sure.)
After
about two minutes, there was another follower, just behind the last soldiers, too
small and too quiet to be noticed. And He wasn't noticed until They were all through the palace gates, in the palace
gardens, with the king striding forward to greet His daughter with some news.
Now, the
news that the king had for the princess was this: another prince had come to
ask Her to marry Him. To tell the truth, the king was
a little fed up with the princess, because, for every prince who came wanting
to marry Her, She had one answer – no. The king had said again and again that
He'd like to see the princess happily married. What He really meant, of course,
was that He'd be happy when She married, whether She was happy or not. But the
princess laughed at each prince who came, so that They
all changed Their minds and went away again, quite insulted. So now, the king
had decided to tell the princess that She must marry
this one and make the best of it. But He was a bit worried because He knew that
the princess would make a big fuss.
However,
as He was approaching Her, there was a bit of another
fuss. Frog had finally been discovered, and a soldier was holding Him by the
ear.
“Ugh!”
said the princess, “It’s that horrible frog creature!”
“What’s
this?! A frog?” asked the king.
“He
swims like a frog, and He looks like a frog,” said the princess. “He refused to
rescue Our ball from the water unless We brought Him
to the palace. We thought We’d escaped Him.”
“How’s that? Rescued Your golden ball?” asked
the king, and insisted on being told the whole story. By the time the story had
been told, He'd thought up a cunning plan. Here was a way to get the princess
married without quite so much of a fuss... “A promise is a promise,” said the
king, "and a royal promise is a royal promise!" (The king was always
breaking His own promises, but He said nothing about that just now)
"Young, er, um, frog... You have rescued the princess' golden ball from
the pond, and not only may You see the palace: today You shall be the guest of
honour!...And You, my Dear," (to the princess)
"You must treat this, erm, frog with the grace and the thanks that He
deserves. Why, that ball is worth more than three villages!" (We see here
where the princess got some or Her silly ways of
thinking) "You should be more careful." He turned to address all
those around: "This young, ah, frog is to be treated with all respect
today." Then He hurried off, to tell a certain guest not to show up for
dinner. The princess looked quite disgusted, and flounced off to Her rooms, leaving instructions that She was not to be
disturbed.
So Frog
wandered around the palace, with royal consent, and (without royal consent)
began to put things in His pockets. Many things He saw weren't worth taking, as
His family wouldn't be able to sell them without making everybody suspicious,
and weren't worth keeping to use at home. What good is a golden toothpick set
with diamonds, when a wooden toothpick picks teeth just as well? But He did
manage, during that afternoon, to pocket quite a lot.
At
dinner, the king announced that Frog was to sit next to the princess. She
protested, but the king insisted, and added: "And, what is more, We've decided that this young lad will make the perfect
husband for You. He’s young now, We admit, but You've
been quite willing to wait so far without marrying. No doubt You
won't mind waiting a little longer. We have decided.”
The
princess burst into angry tears, and asked to be excused from the table, but
the king wouldn't let Her leave until the dinner was
over, even though She didn't touch a crumb, and sat there crying the whole
time. The king pretended several times to be angry and told Her
to be quiet, but really He was enjoying the evening. His plan was going well...
Frog was
worrying about what His family'd think if He stayed away much longer, but
couldn't see any chance to escape unnoticed while the dining hall was filled
with servants and soldiers, and He and the princess were the centre of
attention.
Finally,
the king turned to the princess and said: "You may now retire for the
night. We have ordered a small bed to be put in Your
bedroom for this young frog. He will sleep there, as He is Your
guest."
Again
the princess protested, and again the king was firm. The princess and Frog were
escorted to Her rooms, and the door was locked from
the outside. The king hurried off to give more instructions to the secret
guest.
After
beating against the locked door with no result, the princess threw Herself down on Her bed, and cried Herself to sleep.
As soon
as He was sure She was really asleep, Frog crept
quietly over to the window, climbed out, and down to the ground below. Staying
as much in the shadows as possible, He slipped around the palace walls 'til He
came to the gates. At the gates, He got up all His courage and walked boldly
towards the guards, ready to run for it if necessary. But the guards had heard
of the king's instructions to treat the young boy with respect, and let Him
pass. As soon as He was out of sight of the guards at the gates, Frog ran home,
and out of Our story.
Shortly
before dawn, but while still dark, a strange group moved around the palace
walls to just underneath the princess' window. One soldier carried a ladder.
Another carried a strip of cloth, a length of rope, and a canvas sack. The king
and the visiting prince carried the king's plan in Their
heads. The ladder was leant against the wall. "Make sure You tie Him up tight and gag Him well," whispered the
king to the prince, who took the sack, the cloth, and the rope, and climbed up
the ladder, entering the princess' rooms through the window. A few minutes
later, He was back at the window, hissing: "He's not here. And the bed's
not been slept in."
"Lucky
for Him!" hissed back the king. "Well, no matter: He's served His
purpose. We don't need the sack and things then. Throw them down." Sack,
rope, and cloth were thrown down, and the ladder was removed. Three figures
crept through the dark around the palace walls, and the scene was left to the
dark.
Later
that morning, the princess awoke to find a tall young man sitting in the
armchair by Her bed. He was dressed in gold and
scarlet, and on His head was a crown of fine gold.
"Who
are You? How did You get in
here?" cried the princess.
"We
came in here with You last night," answered the
princely young man. "We were that frog that rescued Your
golden ball from the lake. A wicked witch had put a spell on Us,
changing Us into that frog You saw. Only by spending the night in the room of a
beautiful princess could We be returned to Our true
shape. You have saved Us from that horrible
life."
When the
king heard the news, He congratulated the princess on Her
wonderfully good luck: "Not only a prince," He exclaimed "but an
enchanted prince!"
And,
although the prince didn't seem that special to the princess, at least being
married to Him would be preferable (so She thought) to being married to a frog,
and She was so relieved that She didn't protest quite as much as She would have
normally.
In fact,
She hardly protested at all, and so They were married
in a very big, very beautiful ceremony, and They lived together to the end of
Their lives.
But far from happily.
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The Hand Of
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La Mano De La
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