THE FROG PRINCE
In the olden time, when wishing was having, there lived a King, whose
daughters were all beautiful; but the youngest was so exceedingly
beautiful that the Sun himself, although he saw her very, very often,
was delighted every time she came out into the sunshine.
Near the castle of this King was a large and gloomy forest, where in the
midst stood an old lime-tree, beneath whose branches splashed a little
fountain; so, whenever it was very hot, the King's youngest daughter ran
off into this wood, and sat down by the side of the fountain; and, when
she felt dull, would often divert herself by throwing a golden ball up
into the air and catching it again. And this was her favorite amusement.
Now, one day it happened that this golden ball, when the King's daughter
threw it into the air, did not fall down into her hand, but on to the
grass; and then it rolled right into the fountain. The King's daughter
followed the ball with her eyes, but it disappeared beneath the water,
which was so deep that she could not see to the bottom. Then she began
to lament, and to cry more loudly and more loudly; and, as she cried, a
voice called out, "Why weepest thou, O King's daughter? thy tears would
melt even a stone to pity." She looked around to the spot whence the
voice came, and saw a frog stretching his thick, ugly head out of the
water.
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