The story of "The Frog Prince" is one that has been grossly changed over time and now bears so little resemblance to the original tale as to be practically laughable. A King had several daughters, the youngest being the fairest of them all but also a most vain and spoiled creature. She has a little golden ball which is her most prized possession not because of who gave it to her but because of the pure a simple joy she experiences from it. The sparkle of the sunlight glinting off of it as it flies through the air, the feel of it warm and smooth as she rolls it in her hands. It is probably the most simple and unspoiled thing about her.
One day while playing with her ball she is careless and doesn't quite catch it. She watches helplessly as it rolls away from her and into a well so deep that the bottom cannot be seen. The Princess does the only reasonable thing she can do, the only thing she has ever done when something didn't go quite her way... She throws a massive temper tantrum. Wailing and Screaming. A voice calls to her "King's daughter, do not cry so! Your tears would melt a heart of stone." She halteringly informs him of her misfortune between stifled sobs. The Frog is moved by her tale and her tears but knows how deep the well is and will not risk life and limb (especially not with frogs' legs being a delicacy) without remuneration.
He looks her up and down and asks, "What will you do for me?" She offers him her gowns, pearls, shoes even the crown upon her head. All of which mean nothing to her and are worthless to him. He gently points out the lack of use he would have for her material possessions. "Well, What do you want?" she pouts at him not understanding that there may be more to life than pretty dresses and golden crowns.
"To be your friend... your playmate... to sit next to you at table, you feeding me from your plate and letting me drink from your cup... and at night... I wish to sleep next to you on your pillow." There it is. Simple. The request that our little mermaid made in her heart but could never express. The desire we all feel for that person we would have as our partner on this earth. The point at which someone's presence is all we crave. When their attentions are all we feel we need. I was engaged once. He and i talked about moving in together until we were married. He was talking on and on about tax codes and neighborhoods and how expensive it was going to be. I told him, I don't care where we live as long as i am with you. I could sleep in a cardboard box and would still be safe and warm cuddled up to your soul. He laughed... I am a creature of impracticality, i know it, and it frequently bites my in the back behind. But in truth i'm not sure how to live without my heart sitting on my sleeve. But there is a deeper meaning to the Frog's request. In most cultures (Americans excluded) people will only eat with those they have a high regard for. To be invited to table shows a mutual respect and a genuine caring for your well being. To be invited to sleep near someone shows a tremendous amount of trust. These things are not instantaneous, they are all things earned over time and with reason... the Frog's task though arduous is not showing much more than a passing concern and says nothing to long term affections one would normally associate with friendship. But he knows that she would never give him the chance to be her friend otherwise, based on his outward appearance.
The Princess hears this request... ick-ing and eww-ing through it's conclusion. Then thinks to herself, "It's a frog. What could he do if i said no later?" So she promises, yes she will do all that he has asked of her; her fingers, no doubt, crossed behind her back. It takes him hours to retrieve the ball but he works hard to do so and finally arriving in sight with it he is thanked and abandoned. The Princess's broken promises lying in the dirt as insulting and hurtful as broken glass.
She thinks it's over, he's gone and her ball is back and it's just over. Then the Frog appears at the court demanding that the Princess makes good on her promises. The King hears about this and asks his daughter if it is true that she promised these things and she admits not only the promise but the deception intended behind it. The King is appalled by his daughter and commands her that, "That which thou hast promised, must thou perform." She grudgingly picks the frog up, in my mind's eye i see this as being done with the tips only of her thumb and forefinger... him being carried at arms length with her eyes unable to meet the thing in her hand. She brings him to the table and squirms away as far as her seat will allow. The Frog says, "Oh Princess! When are you going to feed me from your plate?" Then later the same for a drink from her cup. The Princess objects...complains... The King re-commands her to make good on her promise and she relinquishes under duress. After dinner the Frog reminds the Princess of the next part of her promise to be carried to her bed and set on her pillow next to her while she sleeps. Again the Princess raises protest and the King denies her any freedom from her promise. She picks him up again disdainfully and brings him to her bedroom. Sets him down on the floor and gets into bed, as soon as her head hits the pillow the Frog is back, "I am tired and want to sleep as much as you, pick me up and put me on your pillow or i will go tell your father you are not keeping your promise." She has had enough! The Princess arises, picks up the Frog... and throws him against the wall in an attempt to kill him... Bet you weren't expecting that. But instead what falls to the ground is a handsome Prince. They fall in love instantly, the King consents to their marriage, it's revealed that only the Princess could have broken the spell on the Prince and the Prince's faithful servant, "Henry" magically arrives in the best carriage anyone has ever seen. Henry's heart had been bound with three iron bands to prevent it from breaking when the Prince had become a Frog and now as they ride with the Prince's new bride back to his home kingdom the sounds of the bands breaking one by one on Henry's heart startle and frighten the Prince and Princess who keep thinking the carriage's wheels are having trouble.
I can hear it now.... WHAT? Where is the kiss? There isn't one. We've added the kiss to make this story make sense to us. She tried to kill him in a very similar fashion to the way Pinocchio squishes Jimminey Cricket in the first chapter of the original Carlo Collodi tale. So why does she get rewarded? Why does she get the Prince? On some levels this is a rare tale where the Princess seems to be playing a part in the rescue of a Prince, but umm she squishes him. It's not fair. She is vain, spoiled and doesn't keep her promise at all. So how does she wind up with tall, dark and no longer croaking? Life isn't fair. Remember? You see it everywhere. Good people sometimes get hurt. People doing mean or cruel things sometimes get rewarded.
Maybe this story isn't about her. Is it about the King finally taking a hand with his daughter and insisting she learn her manners? I doubt it, the Princess doesn't listen to him and still gets the Prince. Hell of a morality tale at that point. Is it about the Prince? He's stubborn and demands his own way in a most frustrating and insistent... Remembering that love is patient and does not insist on it's own way i think i'll pass on this story being about the Prince. So who is our protagonist?
The only person named in the whole tale is Henry, the faithful servant whose heart grew three sizes that day... opps wrong story. He is only around at the end i'm hard pressed to say that a character appearing in the last few paragraphs is the protagonist of the story.
So... I don't know. I know that the version we tell now where the princess keeps her promise and kisses the frog as a reward for him saving her from a poisonous spider is a little more straight forward. She learns to keep her promises, to reward kind behavior and is herself rewarded with a partner for life that is compatible to her. But the idea that she squishes him and then... grr...
I missed the point... I knew I was but i couldn't figure out what it was until i talked to one of my friends about it.
This tale isn't about promises, or insistence, or manners. It's about Mercy. The second chance none of us deserves and yet when it appears it makes no sense. We reject the kindness, the grace as an apparition or a trap. It's so easy to miss a blessing we don't feel we deserve. and we almost never feel we deserve it...
Interesting fairy tale and interpretation
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