The Frog Prince

We all know the classic tale of 'The Frog Prince'. Well at least we think we do. In our collective memory it is the story of a beautiful Princess who takes pity on a small frog and in return for his help she kisses his lips and he transforms into a hansom Prince. The original Grimms fairytale however is a little different. But we'll come to that later.

What I want to explore with this first fairytale is this concept of 'magical' transformations. The Princess in the tale we recall only agreed to kiss the frog when he promised her he would become a hansom Prince. Now in the case of the fairytale we naturally needed a happy ending and all ended well. But does this happen in real life?

In my experience, and those of my friends, the answer is NO! The Frog can never change into the Prince desired by the beautiful Princess because sadly in the modern world the frog more often then not will still be a frog when the story is over.

(Please note I am not restricting this arugement to the idea that the frog's in these situations are always men- lets be honest we all have been the villian and the victim at some point im sure).

I discuss this from two angles. The first is the idea of the 'empty promise'.
We all know how this scenario goes. A guy makes an empty promise to a girl that he is looking for the same thing she is OR, if a relationship has been successful, that he will change his ways. But usually when presented with this kind of Prince the Princess in most cases should just take this as a sign to run for the hills, but sometimes the idea of staying around to see what will happen next is just to intriguing.

Why do we give empty promises we cannot keep? It seems to be a basic human trait, especially it would seem when one is in their early twenties. As much as it seems to be cliche or something we would only see on the OC, people really do cheat on their loved ones, people really do lie to get into somebodies pants and people are always inclined to make up some sob story to get what they want. In almost every case the Frog turns around having gotten exactly what they wanted and turn out to be an even bigger toad then we thought.

Here I present to you some true stories that are examples of such a situation:

The Frog Who Smiled
Once upon a time there lived a beautiful Princess who longed for a true love to free her from the tedium of the every day. And while many Prince's had asked for her hand in the past, the Princess had always found herself back at square one.

One day, whilst dining in a grand hall, the Princess was served by a hansom Frog who made it his business to shower her with attention and gifts. The Princess was thrilled for the Frog was hansom with a majestic smile. She hoped he might be her chance to find the true love she had been craving and showed played along with his little game.

In rapture the Princess recalled those moments with him and hoped to see him again. He had been so kind to her and she felt perhaps a chance had presented itself at last for her to live happily ever after. But then the promise was broken. The Frog began to ignore the Princess, began to insult her in public and treated her with such audacity that the Princess' Paige was at liberty to attack the Frog for his arrogance.

Do we all not recognise this story? We are given mixed signals so often. To clarify this story had a lot of elements I have chosen to omit. But this frog deceived this Princess into thinking he wanted to date her but then, having changed his mind, decided there was no need to tell the Princess of his change of intention. Instead he decided to ignore her, then make fun of her in public and left her feeling dejected and alone.

( An example of such a Frog from Disney's The Princess and the frog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M17c3WzheYw )


The Frog Who Made An Empty Promises
Once Upon A Time there was a Princess who lived in a castle with a hansom Prince. They were content but the Princess feared for her Prince who suffered a few 'minor' ailments. He was often caught looking at other Princess' and gave himself to freely to drink and other addictions. One night the Princess' confronted her Prince and asked him to desist with these activities that some might find unsavoury.

Now the Prince was a cunning frog at heart and he made two promises to his Princess. 'I swear I shall forget these childish fancies after my next birthday, for on that night I wish to revel in wine and the company of fine women.'

The Princess tried to agree to his terms but was heartbroken by his bluntness. Still she felt he would change. She felt he deserved the chance to prove to her his loyalty. But such promises and conditions make the heart grow weary and the Princess found herself torn to ask what occur ed on his fateful 18th birthday and when she saw his actions did not change the panic inside her became such that she felt she could no longer trust her dear Prince. Had she expected to much? Was she to blame?

She left a broken woman for she could no longer deal with the deception and she live the rest of her life in sorrow.

We have all been in that relationship where we are scorned by our loved one cause they promise change and it does not occur. Perhaps we are dating a smoker who promises to quit but only after a substantial amount of time has past. Or maybe it is a bigger issue like that Prince's or Princess's eyes have fallen to another and after the fact they feel the need to beg forgiveness, whether they admitted to the crime or they got discovered.

In some cases people can change, but sadly we as human seem weak and are often inclined to sin again. I know of a King who strayed from his Queen once, swore never to do it again and then was discovered a second time.

But lets turn this discussion around for the last fairytale. While some are damned for not changing as promised, what about those of us would wish to change our frog into a Prince...

The Princess Who Tried To Change The Frog To A Prince
Once Upon A Time there lived a frog who desired nothing more then to be a man. One day while swimming in his pond a beautiful Princess came down from her palace into his garden.

She was as fair as a spring day. Long golden hair like the sun, eyes like the moon and lips as read as a rose. The Prince, despite himself, fell in love with the Princess and wanted nothing more then to have her.

The Princess had long searched for love but had found herself heartbroken. Upon meeting the Frog she found him charming and kind. The two became quick friends and the frog's love began to grow. One day he professed this love to his Princess and she was dismayed to discover she could not feel the same. The frog was so sweet but he was not the Prince she had dreamed of. Feeling there had to be a chance to remedy the situation, the Princess tried to cloth the frog, to teach him fine arts, to make him interested in literature. But no matter how much he changed to please her the Frog stayed the same and the Princess realized that she could not transform him into the Prince she desired.

So one night, in a cowardly fashion, the Princess look her frog down to his pool and said to him that she could not see him anymore. The frog was disheartened but before he could say more the Princess turned and ran. But this frog had a forgiving heart and did not blame the Princess for his departure. But the Princess would spend many a night regretting what she had done and wondering how life could have been different had she only tried to change herself.

We have all tried to change someone to reach our expectations. But the reality is that it is very unlikely this will occur. People are the way they are and sometimes we have trouble accepting that. Most of the time when discussing friends they will relay all the good qualities of their significant other but then turn around and say 'but if only...' It is in our DNA to want more.

In the case of the last story many would argue the Prince didn't have to change. In contrast the Prince of the second story we can evidently see had some traits that some would argue needed changing. But here I present to you the original translation of the Grimms fairytale. In this tale the Princess does not kiss the frog to turn him into a Prince but in fact becomes so infuriated with him that she throws him against a wall, he changes in the force and for some reason forgives her and they get married, even though as a frog she deceived him and treated him like c (insert letters here).

This isn't so much what I want to discuss in this entry but the act of throwing him against the wall is similar to what happened to the Princess in the second story. No matter how much she wanted her Prince to change his ways, no matter how hard she tried to tolerate him and give him second chances it was like throwing him against a brick wall. No force could change him and sadly we cant change people.

We want the promise of the Prince to be fulfilled. We want to get what we desire. We want to have exactly whats in the fairytale. But sadly in reality it doesn't happen that often. The Frog doesn't change into the Prince because in the end he is a simple frog... and nothing more.

As I'm sure we've all heard:
'I'm only human!' in this case is translated to 'I'm only a frog!'



The Original Grimms Fairytale
Seriously! Who is the frog in this story?

IN OLD times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the King's castle1 lay a great dark forest,2 and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King's child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain,3 and when she was dull she took a golden ball,4 and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.


Now it so happened that on one occasion the princess's golden ball did not fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the ground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The King's daughter followed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. On this she began to cry, and cried louder and louder, and could not be comforted. And as she thus lamented some one said to her, "What ails thee, King's daughter? Thou weepest so that even a stone would show pity." She looked round to the side from whence the voice came, and saw a frog5 stretching forth its thick, ugly head from the water. "Ah! old water-splasher, is it thou?" said she; "I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well."

"Be quiet, and do not weep," answered the frog, "I can help thee, but what wilt thou give me if I bring thy plaything up again?" "Whatever thou wilt have, dear frog," said she -- "My clothes, my pearls and jewels, and even the golden crown which I am wearing."6

The frog answered, "I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels, or thy golden crown, but if thou wilt love me and let me be thy companion and play-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table, and eat off thy little golden plate, and drink out of thy little cup, and sleep in thy little bed -- if thou wilt promise me this I will go down below, and bring thee thy golden ball up again."

"Oh yes," said she, "I promise thee all thou wishest, if thou wilt but bring me my ball back again." She, however, thought, "How the silly frog does talk! He lives in the water with the other frogs, and croaks, and can be no companion to any human being!"

But the frog when he had received this promise, put his head into the water and sank down, and in a short while came swimmming up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The King's daughter was delighted to see her pretty plaything once more, and picked it up, and ran away with it. "Wait, wait," said the frog. "Take me with thee. I can't run as thou canst." But what did it avail him to scream his croak, croak, after her, as loudly as he could? She did not listen to it, but ran home and soon forgot the poor frog, who was forced to go back into his well again.

The next day when she had seated herself at table with the King and all the courtiers, and was eating from her little golden plate, something came creeping splish splash, splish splash, up the marble staircase, and when it had got to the top, it knocked at the door and cried, "Princess, youngest princess, open the door for me." She ran to see who was outside, but when she opened the door, there sat the frog in front of it. Then she slammed the door to, in great haste, sat down to dinner again, and was quite frightened. The King saw plainly that her heart was beating violently, and said, "My child, what art thou so afraid of? Is there perchance a giant outside who wants to carry thee away?" "Ah, no," replied she. "It is no giant but a disgusting frog."

"What does a frog want with thee?" "Ah, dear father, yesterday as I was in the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into the water. And because I cried so, the frog brought it out again for me, and because he so insisted, I promised him he should be my companion, but I never thought he would be able to come out of his water! And now he is outside there, and wants to come in to me."

In the meantime it knocked a second time, and cried,

"Princess! youngest princess!
Open the door for me!
Dost thou not know what thou saidst to me
Yesterday by the cool waters of the fountain?
Princess, youngest princess!
Open the door for me!"

Then said the King, "That which thou hast promised must thou perform.7 Go and let him in." She went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in and followed her, step by step, to her chair. There he sat and cried, "Lift me up beside thee." She delayed, until at last the King commanded her to do it. When the frog was once on the chair he wanted to be on the table, and when he was on the table he said, "Now, push thy little golden plate nearer to me that we may eat together." She did this, but it was easy to see that she did not do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what he ate, but almost every mouthful she took choked her. At length he said, "I have eaten and am satisfied; now I am tired, carry me into thy little room and make thy little silken bed ready, and we will both lie down and go to sleep."


The King's daughter began to cry, for she was afraid of the cold frog which she did not like to touch, and which was now to sleep in her pretty, clean little bed. But the King grew angry and said, "He who helped thee when thou wert in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by thee." So she took hold of the frog with two fingers, carried him upstairs, and put him in a corner. But when she was in bed he crept to her and said, "I am tired, I want to sleep as well as thou, lift me up or I will tell thy father." Then she was terribly angry, and took him up and threw him with all her might against the wall.8 "Now, thou wilt be quiet, odious frog," said she. But when he fell down he was no frog but a King's son with beautiful kind eyes.9 He by her father's will was now her dear companion and husband. Then he told her how he had been bewitched by a wicked witch,10 and how no one could have delivered him from the well but herself, and that to-morrow they would go together into his kingdom. Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke them, a carriage came driving up with eight white horses, which had white ostrich feathers on their heads, and were harnessed with golden chains, and behind stood the young King's servant Faithful Henry.11 Faithful Henry had been so unhappy when his master was changed into a frog, that he had caused three iron bands to be laid round his heart, lest it should burst with grief and sadness. The carriage was to conduct the young King into his Kingdom. Faithful Henry helped them both in, and placed himself behind again, and was full of joy because of this deliverance. And when they had driven a part of the way the King's son heard a cracking behind him as if something had broken. So he turned round and cried, "Henry, the carriage is breaking."

"No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart, which was put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned in the well." Again and once again while they were on their way something cracked, and each time the King's son thought the carriage was breaking; but it was only the bands which were springing from the heart of faithful Henry because his master was set free and was happy.

by the Brothers Grimm