One day the frog prince came to a kingdom where he saw the most beautiful (woman) princess he had ever laid eyes on. As he hopped his way to her palace, he heard everyone talking about her. Not only was she the most beautiful princess of them all, but she was the kindest, most generous and most pious, with a heart full of love for everyone. Her whole kingdom loved her and they rejoiced and mourned at the same time because she was soon to wed the king of a distant kingdom.

But she is exactly the kind of princess who can break my curse, thought the frog. Undeterred by her upcoming wedding, he hopped his way to her chambers, where he sat with her companions who were brushing her long, thick, lustrous hair. At once he pleaded his case, and though some of the companions looked as if they might scream, the princess listened with rapt attention.

"But of course I shall lift your curse, if it is within my powers," she said.

And she picked up the frog and kissed (its) his head. But as soon as he materialized in front of her, the princess took one look at his (stark naked) form and fainted. All of her companions giggling, half of them carried her to bed and went to fetch the smelling salts and the other half drove the prince out of the chambers and ordered the guards to fetch him some clothes.

After he was clothes and bathed and fed, the princess sent one of her companions to tell him that she did not wish to see him, for he had not warned her to close her eyes when he transformed. However she forgave him and wished him the best of luck and that he may ask the palace groom to provide him with a horse that could take him back home.

Thus overjoyed, and a little embarrassed, the prince rode for home. He arrived in the dead of the night, and decided it would be best to wait till the morning to present himself to his parents. So he made his way to his favorite tavern, intending to enter through the back and surprise everyone. But first, he ran into his favorite barmaid, come to throw out some stale beer. She squealed and ran to him and he caught her and spun her around and kissed her but as soon as he did, he had turned back into a frog. He had not been faithful to the princess who had kissed him with real affection.

The barmaid screamed and ran back inside, but everyone only laughed at her story for a long time to come. Meanwhile, the prince desperately hopped back to the kingdom of the pious princess. But by the time he got there, he saw that her wedding was in session. The entire kingdom was in celebration and it was hard to hop anywhere without getting trampled.

When he finally saw the bride and groom, the frog felt that he could not intrude upon their happiness. Transforming (into a naked man) in the middle of the ceremony would certainly mar the wedding, and he did not wish to inflict any more pain on the woman who had shown him so much kindness. As the bride and groom left for their honeymoon, the prince once again, gave into hopelessness.

Not knowing what else to do, the frog prince hopped his way back to the mansion of the prisoner princess. He slipped through the crack in the wall and hopped through an open window. He went from room to room and finally found her in her bed, crying into her knees.

"Princess?" he asked.

"You're back," she noted in a choked voice. "And still a frog."

"What is the matter?" he asked, hopping onto the bed to sit next to her.

"My father," she said. "He is going to punish me. Tomorrow is my hearing."

"But surely you expected this when you defied him," the frog remarked. He tried to sound not unkind, (but probably failed.)

"I don't know what I expected. I thought he would admit defeat and leave me be."

"(Clearly you didn't think this through.) I am truly sorry. Perhaps I should have anticipated the consequences and warned you. I wish I could do something to help."

"There is nothing you can do!"She managed to keep her voice down. "You're a frog!"

She lay down in bed, but could not sleep. The frog stayed in bed with her. At length, she changed him back to his human form and (cuddled)sought the comfort of his arms.

"Maybe we can try to escape," he tried to suggest.

She shook her head. "They will see us. And then it might get worse. Just stay with me tonight. That will be all."

Eventually they both fell asleep.


The next morning, there was quite an uproar in the mansion. A (naked) man was found in bed with the princess. Before either of them could come to their senses, the prince was dragged away, given a piece of cloth to cover himself and locked in a room; and the princess was dragged to her hearing.

They're going to kill her, the prince thought. No, they were going to kill him. The curse had broken at a most inconvenient time.

However, the prince knew what he needed to do. When the eunuch guard came to fetch him, he flung his arms around the guard and kissed him. Even as the guard was recovering from the shock, he received yet another one as the prisoner turned into a frog before his very eyes. Recovering a little too late, he scrambled to catch the frog, but the animal was too fast for him.

The frog hopped his way through the mansion till he came upon the hearing.

"Did you wish to mock me, daughter?" The king was shouting.

The princess, flanked by eunuch guards, hung her head. When the frog hopped up to her, without thinking, she picked him up and kissed (its) his head.

As soon as he transformed, he made a grab for both of the guards' swords. In the confusion that followed, he was able to pull the princess away and take a defensive stand.

"Don't just stand there!" yelled the king at the guards.

But neither the eunuch guards nor the king's personal guards were any match for the prince's skill with the sword, in spite of his lack of practice during his time as a frog.

There were but a few guards, for the king had seen no reason to bring more, and the prince injured them all. Then he advanced on the king.

"I yield, sir," shouted the king quickly. "Name your price and you shall be free."

"Your clothes," said the prince immediately. The king protested at first, but threatened further with the sword, he yielded.

"And two horses, and then we will be off," finished the prince.

"My daughter needs to be punished," insisted the king.

"She has to come with me," said the prince. "I think that is punishment enough."


Thus the prince was finally on his way home. It was a miracle, he thought, that the princess had managed to muster enough affection to change him back permanently. Of course, he would have to marry the princess now, because he would rather live with her in monogamy than be forced into celibacy.

When the prince finally returned, there was much rejoicing in his kingdom. At his parents' insistence, there was even a large wedding. It could be argued that the prince and princess lived happily ever after, because the king and queen spoiled and pampered them both. However, thankfully neither of them ever needed to rule anyone, and the prince's time as a frog had changed him somewhat to be a more considerate person. It can be safely said that he ruined no one else's life, and so he was allowed to live in peace with his family.