Name _____________________________________ Date _______________

The Frog Prince, by the Brothers Grimm

One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take
a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water, that rose in
the midst of it, she sat herself down to rest a while.
Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she
was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again as it fell. After a time she
threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball bounded away,
and rolled along upon the ground, till at last it fell down into the spring. The princess
looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not
see the bottom of it.
Then she began to bewail her loss, and said, “Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I
would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.”
Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, “Princess,
why do you weep so bitterly?”
“Alas!” said she, “what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen
into the spring.”
The frog said, “I want not your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will
love me, and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep upon
your bed, I will bring you your ball again.”
“What nonsense,” thought the princess, “this silly frog is talking! He can never even
get out of the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for me, and
therefore I will tell him he shall have what he asks.”
So she said to the frog, “Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.”
Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little
while he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the
spring.
As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so
overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran
home with it as fast as she could. The frog called after her, “Stay, princess, and take
me with you as you said.” But she did not stop to hear a word.
The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise—
tap, tap-plash, plash—as if something was coming up the marble staircase: and soon
afterwards there was a gentle knock at the door, and a little voice cried out and said:
“Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.”
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom
she had quite forgotten. At this sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door
as fast as she could came back to her seat. The king, her father, seeing that
something had frightened her, asked her what was the matter. “There is a nasty
frog,” said she, “at the door, that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this morning:
I told him that he should live with me here, thinking that he could never get out of
the spring; but there he is at the door, and he wants to come in.”

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Name _____________________________________ Date _______________

The Frog Prince, by the Brothers Grimm

While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:
“Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.”
Then the king said to the young princess, “As you have given your word you must
keep it; so go and let him in.”
She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight on—tap, tap-plash,
plash—from the bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to the table
where the princess sat.
“Pray lift me upon chair,” said he to the princess, “and let me sit next to you.” As
soon as she had done this, the frog said, “Put your plate nearer to me, that I may eat
out of it.” This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, “Now I
am tired; carry me upstairs, and put me into your bed.”
And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand, and put him upon
the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long. As soon as it was light he
jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house. “Now, then,” thought the
princess, “at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no more.”
But she was mistaken; for when night came again she heard the same tapping at the
door; and the frog came once more, and said:
“Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.”
And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow
as before, till the morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the
princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the
frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever
seen, and standing at the head of her bed.
He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him
into a frog; and that he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him
out of the spring, and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three
nights. “You,” said the prince, “have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing
to wish for but that you should go with me into my father”s kingdom, where I will
marry you, and love you as long as you live.”
The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying “Yes” to all this; and as
they spoke a gay coach drove up, with eight beautiful horses, decked with plumes of
feathers and a golden harness; and behind the coach rode the prince‘s servant,
faithful Heinrich, who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his
enchantment so long and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach with eight horses, and all set
out, full of joy and merriment, for the prince’s kingdom, which they reached safely;
and there they lived happily a great many years.
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Name _____________________________________ Date _______________

The Frog Prince, by the Brothers Grimm

Vocabulary Questions

Underline the following words in the story. Then write their definitions below.

a. clogs ______________________________________
______________________________________

b. bewail ______________________________________
______________________________________

c. spring ______________________________________
______________________________________

d. pray ______________________________________
______________________________________

e. astonished ______________________________________
______________________________________

f. spiteful ______________________________________
______________________________________

g. fated ______________________________________
______________________________________

h. abide ______________________________________
______________________________________

i. plumes ______________________________________
______________________________________

j. harness ______________________________________
______________________________________

k. merriment ______________________________________
______________________________________

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Name _____________________________________ Date _______________

The Frog Prince, by the Brothers Grimm

Comprehension Questions
1. What happened to the princess’s ball?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

2. How did the princess get her ball back?

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

3. Why did the princess tell the frog it could live with her?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

4. What did the princess’s father tell her when the frog came to the castle?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

5. Why did the frog turn into a prince?

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

6. This story is written in an old-fashioned style. Do you like it? Why or

why not?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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Name _____________________________________ Date _______________

The Frog Prince, by the Brothers Grimm

Answer Key

Define the following word:

a. clogs: A heavy, usually wooden-soled shoe
b. bewail: To express sorrow or unhappiness
c. spring: A stream of water flowing from the earth
d. pray: To make a fervent request or entreaty
e. astonished: To fill with sudden wonder or amazement
f. spiteful: Filled with, prompted by, or showing spite
g. fated: Governed by fate; predetermined
h. abide: To put up with; tolerate
i. plumes: A feather, especially a large and showy one
j. harness: The gear with which an animal pulls a
k. merriment: High-spirited fun and enjoyment
[Definitions from the American Heritage Dictionary]

1. What happened to the princess’s ball?

It rolled into the spring when she was playing with it.

2. How did the princess get her ball back?

A frog got it for her.

3. Why did the princess tell the frog it could live with her?
The princess told the frog it could live with her because it got her ball
back for her.

4. What did the princess’s father tell her when the frog came to the castle?
“As you have given your word you must keep it, so go and let him in.”

5. Why did the frog turn into a prince?

He had been enchanted, and when the princess let the frog eat and
sleep with her for three nights, the spell was broken.

6. This story is written in an old-fashioned style. Do you like it? Why or

why not?
Answers will vary.

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