A young princess lived within an
immaculate castle in a kingdom deep within the woods. Because she was around the
age of 16, she began to feel confined and decided to explore
outside the walls of the kingdom. After begging her father, the king, he
allowed her to go outside the kingdom but he made her promise him to not talk
to any strangers. The princess promised and then set off on her journey.
The first thing the princess came
upon as she walked outside the kingdom walls was a path that led into a
forest. The
further she went on the path, the darker the forest seemed to get. After walking for about ten minutes, the
princesses came across a handsome boy who sat beside
a pond with his legs in the water. There was something drawing the princess into
wanting to talk to the boy but she remembered her father’s order and she held
her tongue as she walked past the boy. As she walked by, the boy called for
her to sit with him but the princesses refused because she was unable to talk
to him due to her fathers orders. He stayed calm with his feet still in the
murky pond water, patting down beside him again to motion for the princess to sit
next to him. Nervous and confused, the princess apologized, for all she wanted
was to sit next to the handsome boy but she was conflicted by her and her
fathers’ promise.
As she walked away, she heard the boy take his feet out from the water and stand up. Right after hearing the sound, the princess’s turned around to see all the commotion and her jaw dropped in shock. From the knee
up, the boy’s legs looked human but from the calf down they were green and
looked like legs of a frog with webbed toes. She tried to ask why his legs were
messed up but as he tried to explain, he began to croak. It seemed like he
struggled to speak because all he could do was croak.
Confused and nervous, the princess
turned around and ran towards the castle. As she ran, she could hear the webbed
feet running behind her as well as the croaking noises. Before she could make it to the
doors of the kingdom, the frog boy tackled the princess and kissed her. The
princess pushed the frog boy off of her and stood up. She was about to start
yelling at him when she noticed his legs began to turn back into normal human
legs and his croaking ceased. The boy began to explain to the princess that he
was a prince but some time ago a spiteful fairy turned him into a frog. If he
kissed princesses, some of his frog attributes would subside but the only way to completely break the spell is receiving
true loves kiss.
Since the princess broke the curse fully, the prince
asked her hand in marriage. Since the boy was so handsome and he said that he
was a prince, the princess agreed and they lived happily ever after.
The Frog Prince by Paul Mayerheim (1842-1915).
Author's Note: I used the story of The Frog Prince in the Brothers Grimm (LibriVox) unit. The story was about a young princess who walked outside of the castle and went to a pond. She was tossing a ball up in the air to herself and she accidentally dropped it in the pond. A frog said he would get the ball for her but only if she would let him eat off of her plate and sleep in her bed. She 'agreed' and the frog got her the ball. But when she got the ball, the princess ran off to her castle with the ball and without the frog. The frog showed up later that night at the kings door begging to come in. After the princesses reluctantly let the frog in, she let him eat off her plate and sleep next to her in bed. The next morning, the princess woke up to a handsome prince beside her. The prince explained that a spiteful fairy turned him into the frog and the only way to brake the spell was if a princess would let him eat off of her plate and sleep in the same bed as her. They then got married and lived happily ever after. Because I had always thought that the only way to brake the spell was true loves first kiss, I decided to incorporate that into my story, along with her young curiosity of wanting to leave the kingdom. I also added her father telling her not to talk to strangers because I wanted the princess to try and avoid the prince.
I really enjoyed your storytelling of the Frog Prince. It was nice to get a glimpse of how the Grimm portrays the prince. It was a little different from the story that I know, but I always enjoy reading new takes on old stories. I might just have to check out this unit sometime next week. It seems to be right up my ally.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas for modification behind your story are good! I liked how you added the touch of how the prince was not wholly a frog, but gradually transformed out of that state. But I did have a little problem with the modern language you inserted here and there: it broke my immersion to read the story and read phrases like "messed up." I found myself wondering why the kiss from this princess in particular was the "kiss of true love", logistics like that. But overall, good story and good ideas!
ReplyDeleteI liked your story a lot! I always enjoy seeing a new take on stories that I've heard many times in my life. The idea that it needed to be love's true kiss to fully remove the curse added a nice touch and change from the original. One thing you should check is that it's "break" the curse, not "brake" the curse. Other than that though, I didn't see any big errors!
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