Chapter 15 prince married a frog

A Prince Married a Frog & Italian Fairy Tales Once upon a time there was a king whose three sons were old enough to take wives.In order to prevent the three princes from fighting when choosing a bride, the king said to them: "Use your sling to throw stones as far as you can, and wherever the stone falls, you will marry the girl there." The three sons took their slings and threw stones.The elder son threw a stone on the roof of a bakery, and he married the baker girl.The second son threw the stone into the home of a weaver girl.The stone thrown by the younger son fell into a ditch.

After throwing stones, the three princes hurried to their fiancées with their engagement rings.What the eldest prince found was a beautiful girl whose skin was as soft as a freshly baked cake; what the second prince found was a pale girl whose body was as slender as a string; while the little prince looked into the ditch, looking, looking, In the end only one frog was found. The three princes came back and told the king about the fiancée they had found.The king said: "Well, whoever has the best wives will inherit the throne. Now let's try them." He divided some flax for each son, and asked their fiancées to spin it within three days. better.

The sons found their fiancées and told them to spin carefully.The little prince felt very depressed. He took the hemp, went to the ditch, and shouted: "Frog, frog!" "Who is calling me?" "I don't like your fiancé very much!" "You don't like me now, but you will like me when you see me beautiful." The frog jumped out of the water and landed on a leaf.The little prince gave her the flax and told her that he would come to fetch the spun thread in three days. Three days later, the two elder brothers rushed to get the spun threads from the baker girl and the spinner girl. The baker girl spun beautifully, not to mention the weaver girl. The twine that comes out is as thin as silk.How is the little prince?He came to the ditch:

"Frog, frog!" "Who is calling me?" "I don't like your fiancé very much!" "You don't like me now, but when you see me beautiful, you will definitely like me!" The frog jumped onto a leaf with a walnut in its mouth.The two elder brothers both brought spun threads, but he brought back only a walnut to see his father. The little prince was embarrassed, so he bit the bullet and came to his father.The king checked the threads spun by the bread girl and the weaver girl over and over again, and then he opened the walnuts brought by the little prince. The two elder brothers laughed at him secretly.The king opened the walnut and took out a ball of thin thread from it, which was as thin as a spider's web. The king pulled and pulled, and pulled and pulled, getting longer and longer, and the thread he pulled out filled the entire hall. "Why is there no end to this thread!" As soon as the king's words were out of his mouth, the thread was pulled to the end.The king was not willing to let a frog become queen like this.It just so happened that his well-bred hound had just given birth to three puppies, so he gave them to the three princes and said, "Bring them to your fiancées, and bring them back in a month. Be queen."

A month later, the bread girl's dog grew into a fat hound, because it had never broken bread for a month.The weaver girl's dog looked thin and thin, and it had been short of food and drink for a month.When the little prince came, he brought a cage with him. The king opened the cage, and out of it was a smooth poodle with a sash around his neck. Standing upright, you can also practice martial arts and know how to count.Then the king said: "There is no doubt that the youngest son will inherit the throne, and the frog will be queen." The weddings of the three brothers were scheduled to take place on the same day.The two brothers went to fetch the bride in a four-horse carriage, which was decorated with beautiful flowers, and the two brides, all dressed in feathers and jewels, boarded the carriage.When the little prince came to the ditch, the frog was waiting for him in a cart made of fig leaves, drawn by four snails.They set off, and he walked ahead, while the snail followed, pulling the frog on the leaves.Along the way, the little prince had to stop several times to wait for the frog, and the last time he even fell asleep.When he woke up, he found a golden carriage parked in front of him, drawn by two white horses, wrapped in velvet, and sitting in it was a beautiful girl, dressed in emerald green, shining brightly.

"Who are you?" asked the little prince. "I am a frog," seeing the prince doubtful, the girl opened a treasure box and saw fig leaves, a frog's skin and four snail shells inside. "I was originally a princess, but I was turned into a frog. Only when I meet a prince who never knows my beauty but is willing to marry me, can I become a human again." The king was full of joy, and when he saw the jealousy of the two elder princes, he advised them that a man who is not capable of choosing his wife is not worthy of the crown.In this way, the little prince and his bride became king and queen.

(Monferrato area) The Prince Who Married a Frog There was once a king who had three sons of marriageable age. In order to avoid any dispute over their choice of three brides, he said, "Aim as far as you can with the sling. There where the stone falls you will get your wife " The three sons picked up their slings and shot. The oldest boy sent his stone flying all the way to the roof of a bakery, so he got the baker girl. The second boy released his stone, which came down on the house of a weaver . The youngest sons stone landed in a ditch. Immediately after the shots, each boy rushed off to his betrothed with a ring. The oldest brother was met by a lovely maiden as fresh as a newly baked cake, the middle brother by a fair girl with silky hair and skin, while the youngest, After looking and looking, saw nothing but a frog in that ditch.

They returned to the king to tell him about their betrothed. "Now," said the king, "whoever has the best wife will inherit the kingdom. Here begin the tests." He gave them each some hemp to be spun and returned within three days, to see which betrothed was the best spinner. The sons went to their betrothed and urged them to spin their best. Highly embarrassed, the youngest boy took the hemp to the rim of the ditch and called: "Frog, frog!" "Who calls?" "Your love who loves you not." "If you love me not, never mind. Later you shall, when a fine figure I cut."

The frog jumped out of the water onto a leaf. The kings son gave her the hemp, telling her hed pick up the spun thread three days later. Three days later the older brothers anxiously hastened to the baker girl and the weaver girl to pick up their spun hemp. The baker girl produced a beautiful piece of work; the weaver girl, who was an expert at this sort of thing, had spun hers to look like silk. But how did the youngest son fare? He went to the ditch and called: "Frog, frog!" "Who calls?" "Your love who loves you not." "If you love me not, never mind. Later you shall, when a fine figure I cut."

She jumped onto a leaf holding a walnut in her mouth. He was somewhat embarrassed to give his father a walnut while his brothers brought spun hemp. He nevertheless took heart and presented the king with the walnut. The king, who had already scrutinized the handiwork of the baker and the weaver girls, cracked open the walnut as the older brothers looked on, snickering. Out came cloth as fine as gossamer that continued to unroll until the throne room was covered with it. "But theres no end to this cloth! " exclaimed the king. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the cloth came to an end.

But the father refused to accept the idea of ​​a frog becoming queen. His favorite hunting bitch had just had three puppies, which he gave the three sons. "Take them to your betrothed and go back for them a month later. The one whos taken The best care of her dog will become the queen." A month later, the baker girls dog had turned into a big, fat mastiff, having got all the bread he could eat. The weavers dog, not nearly so well supplied, was now a half-starved hound. The youngest son came in with a small box. The king opened it and out jumped a tiny, beribboned poodle, impeccably groomed and perfumed, that stood on its hind legs and marched and counted. "No doubt about it," said the king, "my youngest son will be king, and the frog will be queen." The wedding of all three brothers was set for the same day. The older brothers went for their brides in garlanded carriages drawn by four horses, and the brides climbed in, decked with feathers and jewels. The youngest boy went to the ditch, where the frog awaited him in a carriage fashioned out of a fig leaf and drawn by four snails. They set out. He walked ahead while the snails followed, pulling the fig leaf with the frog upon it. Every now and then he stopped for them to catch up with him, and once he even fell asleep. When he woke up, a gold carriage had pulled up beside him. It was drawn by two white horses, and inside on velvet upholstery, sat a maiden as dazzling as the sun and dressed in an emarald-green gown. "Who are you?" asked the youngest son. "I am the frog." He couldn't believe it, so the maiden opened a jewel case containing the fig leaf, the frog skin, and four snail shells. "I was a princess turned into a frog, and the only chance I had of getting my human form back was for a kings son to agree to marry me the way I was." The king was overjoyed and told his two older sons, who were consumed with envy, that whoever picked the wrong wife was unworthy of the crown. So the youngest boy and his bride became king and queen. (Monferrato) NOTES: "The Prince Who Married a Frog" (Il principe che sposo una rana) from Comparetti, 4, Monferrato, Piedmont. The tale of the frog bride is common to all of Europe; scholars have counted 300 versions. Comparing it, for instance, with Grimm, no.63, or with Afanasevs "The Frog Prince," this variant which we can classify as distinctly Italian (since it shows up uniformly throughout the Peninsula, even if slinging to locate the bride is rather rare) stands out in its near-geometrical logic and linearity. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980