The frog king or Iron Henry

In  the old times, when it was still of some use to wish for the thing one 
wanted, there lived a King whose daughters were all handsome, but the 
youngest was so beautiful that the sun himself, who has seen so much, 
wondered each time he shone over her because of her beauty. Near the 
royal castle there was a great dark wood, and in the wood under an old 
linden-tree was a well; and when the day was hot, the King's daughter 
used to go forth into the wood and sit by the brink of the cool well, 
and if the time seemed long, she would take out a golden ball, and throw
 it up and catch it again, and this was her favourite pastime.

Now it happened one day that the golden ball, instead of falling back into 
the maiden's little hand which had sent it aloft, dropped to the ground 
near the edge of the well and rolled in. The king's daughter followed it
 with her eyes as it sank, but the well was deep, so deep that the 
bottom could not be seen. Then she began to weep, and she wept and wept 
as if she could never be comforted. And in the midst of her weeping she 
heard a voice saying to her: "What ails thee, king's daughter? Thy tears
 would melt a heart of stone." And when she looked to see where the 
voice came from, there was nothing but a frog stretching his thick ugly 
head out of the water. "Oh, is it you, old waddler?" said she, "I weep 
because my golden ball has fallen into the well." - "Never mind, do not 
weep," answered the frog, "I can help you; but what will you give me if I
 fetch up your ball again?" - "Whatever you like, dear frog," said she, 
"any of my clothes, my pearls and jewels, or even the golden crown that I
 wear." - "Thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels, and thy golden crown are 
not for me," answered the frog, "but if thou wouldst love me, and have 
me for thy companion and play-fellow, and let me sit by thee at table, 
and eat from thy plate, and drink from thy cup, and sleep in thy little 
bed, if thou wouldst promise all this, then would I dive below the water
 and fetch thee thy golden ball again." - "Oh yes," she answered, "I 
will promise it all, whatever you want, if you will only get me my ball 
again." But she thought to herself: What nonsense he talks! As if he 
could do anything but sit in the water and croak with the other frogs, 
or could possibly be any one's companion.

But the frog, as soon 
as he heard her promise, drew his head under the water and sank down out
 of sight, but after a while he came to the surface again with the ball 
in his mouth, and he threw it on the grass. The King's daughter was 
overjoyed to see her pretty plaything again, and she caught it up and 
ran off with it. "Stop, stop!" cried the frog, "take me up too. I cannot
 run as fast as you!" But it was of no use, for croak, croak after her 
as he might, she would not listen to him, but made haste home, and very 
soon forgot all about the poor frog, who had to betake himself to his 
well again.

The next day, when the King's daughter was sitting at
 table with the King and all the court, and eating from her golden 
plate, there came something pitter patter up the marble stairs, and then
 there came a knocking at the door, and a voice crying: "Youngest King's
 daughter, let me in!" And she got up and ran to see who it could be, 
but when she opened the door, there was the frog sitting outside. Then 
she shut the door hastily and went back to her seat, feeling very 
uneasy. The King noticed how quickly her heart was beating, and said: 
"My child, what are you afraid of? Is there a giant standing at the door
 ready to carry you away?" - "Oh no," answered she, "no giant, but a 
horrid frog." - "And what does the frog want?" asked the King. "O dear 
father," answered she, "when I was sitting by the well yesterday, and 
playing with my golden ball, it fell into the water, and while I was 
crying for the loss of it, the frog came and got it again for me on 
condition I would let him be my companion, but I never thought that he 
could leave the water and come after me; but now there he is outside the
 door, and he wants to come in to me." And then they all heard him 
knocking the second time and crying:

"Youngest King's daughter, Open to me! By the well water What promised you me? Youngest King's daughter Now open to me!"

"That which thou hast promised must thou perform," said the King, "so go now 
and let him in." So she went and opened the door, and the frog hopped 
in, following at her heels, till she reached her chair. Then he stopped 
and cried: "Lift me up to sit by you." But she delayed doing so until 
the King ordered her. When once the frog was on the chair, he wanted to 
get on the table, and there he sat and said: "Now push your golden plate
 a little nearer, so that we may eat together." And so she did, but 
everybody might see how unwilling she was, and the frog feasted 
heartily, but every morsel seemed to stick in her throat. "I have had 
enough now," said the frog at last, "and as I am tired, you must carry 
me to your room, and make ready your silken bed, and we will lie down 
and go to sleep." Then the King's daughter began to weep, and was afraid
 of the cold frog, that nothing would satisfy him but he must sleep in 
her pretty clean bed. Now the King grew angry with her, saying: "That 
which thou hast promised in thy time of necessity, must thou now 
perform." So she picked up the frog with her finger and thumb, carried 
him upstairs and put him in a corner, and when she had lain down to 
sleep, he came creeping up, saying: "I am tired and want sleep as much 
as you; take me up, or I will tell your father." Then she felt beside 
herself with rage, and picking him up, she threw him with all her 
strength against the wall, crying: "Now will you be quiet, you horrid 
frog!"


But as he fell, he ceased to be a frog, and became all at 
once a prince with beautiful kind eyes. And it came to pass that, with 
her father's consent, they became bride and bridegroom. And he told her 
how a wicked witch had bound him by her spells, and how no one but she 
alone could have released him, and that they two would go together to 
his father's kingdom. And there came to the door a carriage drawn by 
eight white horses, with white plumes on their heads, and with golden 
harness, and behind the carriage was standing faithful Henry, the 
servant of the young prince. Now, faithful Henry had suffered such care 
and pain when his master was turned into a frog, that he had been 
obliged to wear three iron bands over his heart, to keep it from 
breaking with trouble and anxiety. When the carriage started to take the
 prince to his kingdom, and faithful Henry had helped them both in, he 
got up behind, and was full of joy at his master's deliverance.


And when they had gone a part of the way, the prince heard a sound at the 
back of the carriage, as if something had broken, and he turned round 
and cried:

"Henry, the wheel must be breaking!" "The wheel does not break, ‘Tis the band round my heart That, to lessen its ache, When I grieved for your sake, I bound round my heart."

Again, and yet once again there was the same sound, and the prince thought it 
must be the wheel breaking, but it was the breaking of the other bands 
from faithful Henry's heart, because it was now so relieved and happy.

Cat and mouse in partnership

A  cat had made the acquaintance of a mouse, and had said so much to her 
about the great love and friendship that he felt for her, that at last 
the mouse agreed that they should live and keep house together. "But we 
must make preparations for winter, or else we shall suffer from hunger,"
 said the cat, "and you, little mouse, cannot venture out everywhere, or
 in the end you will be caught in a trap." This good advice was 
followed, and they bought a pot of fat, but they did not know where to 
store it. Finally, after much consideration, the cat said, "I know of no
 place where it will be better stored up than in the church. No one 
dares take anything away from there. We will put it beneath the altar, 
and not touch it until we are need it." So the pot was stored safely 
away, but it was not long before the cat took a great longing for it, 
and said to the mouse, "I wanted to tell you, little mouse, that my 
cousin has brought a little son into the world, and she has asked me to 
be his godfather. He is white with brown spots, and I am to hold him 
over the baptismal font. Let me go out today, and you look after the 
house by yourself." - "Yes, yes," answered the mouse. "By all means go, 
and if you get anything good to eat, think of me. I would like to drink a
 drop of sweet red christening wine myself." All this, however, was 
untrue. The cat had no cousin, and had not been asked to be godfather. 
He went straight to the church, crept up to the pot of fat, began to 
lick at it, and licked off the top of the fat. Then he went for a stroll
 on the roofs of the town, looked out for opportunities, and then 
stretched out in the sun, licking his whiskers whenever he thought of 
the pot of fat. He did not return home until it was evening. "Well, here
 you are again," said the mouse. "You must have had a happy day." - 
"Everything went well," answered the cat. "What name did they give the 
child?" asked the mouse. "Top-Off," said the cat quite coolly. 
"Top-Off?" cried the mouse. "That is a very odd and uncommon name. Is it
 a usual one in your family?" - "What does that matter?" said the cat. 
"It is no worse than Crumb-Thief, as your godchildren are called."


Before long the cat was seized by another fit of longing. He said to the 
mouse, "You must do me a favor, and once more manage the house alone for
 a day. I have been asked again to be godfather, and since the child has
 a white ring around its neck, I cannot refuse." The good mouse 
consented. However, the cat crept behind the town wall to the church, 
and devoured half the pot of fat. "Nothing tastes as good as that which 
one eats by oneself," he said, and was quite satisfied with his day's 
work. When he arrived home the mouse asked, "What name was this child 
christened with?" - "Half-Gone," answered the cat. "Half-Gone? What are 
you saying? I have never heard that name in all my life. I'll wager it 
is not in the almanac."


The cat's mouth soon again began to water
 for the delicious goods. "All good things come in threes," he said to 
the mouse. "I have been asked to be godfather again. The child is 
totally black, only it has white paws. Otherwise it has not a single 
white hair on its whole body. This only happens once every few years. 
You will let me go, won't you?" - "Top-Off. Half-Gone," answered the 
mouse. "They are such odd names, that they make me stop and think." - 
"Here you sit at home," said the cat, "with your dark gray fur coat and 
long braid of hair capturing fantasies. That is because you do not go 
out in the daytime." During the cat's absence the mouse cleaned the 
house, and put it in order, but the greedy cat devoured all the rest of 
the fat. "One has peace only after everything is eaten up," he said to 
himself. Well filled and fat, he did not return home until nighttime. 
The mouse immediately asked what name had been given to the third child.
 "You will not like it either," said the cat. "His name is All-Gone." - 
"All-Gone!", cried the mouse. "That is the most worrisome name of all. I
 have never seen it in print. All-Gone! What can that mean?" Then she 
shook her head, curled herself up, and lay down to sleep.


From this time forth no one invited the cat to be godfather, but when winter 
had come and there was no longer anything to be found outside, the mouse
 thought of their stored food, and said, "Come cat, we will go to our 
pot of fat which we have stored up for ourselves. It will taste good 
now." - "Yes," answered the cat. "You will enjoy it as much as you would
 enjoy sticking that dainty tongue of yours out of the window." They set
 out on their way, but when they arrived, the pot of fat, to be sure, 
was still in its place, but it was empty. "Alas," said the mouse, "now I
 see what has happened. Now it comes to light. You are a true friend. 
You ate everything when you were serving as a godfather. First top off, 
then half done, then..." - "Be quiet!" cried the cat. "One more word, 
and I will eat you too."


"All gone," was already on the poor 
mouse's lips. She had scarcely spoken it before the cat sprang on her, 
seized her, and swallowed her down. You see, that is the way of the 
world.

The wolf and the seven little goats

There  was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of them
 as ever mother was of her children. One day she had to go into the wood
 to fetch food for them, so she called them all round her. "Dear 
children," said she, "I am going out into the wood; and while I am gone,
 be on your guard against the wolf, for if he were once to get inside he
 would eat you up, skin, bones, and all. The wretch often disguises 
himself, but he may always be known by his hoarse voice and black paws."
 - "Dear mother," answered the kids, "you need not be afraid, we will 
take good care of ourselves." And the mother bleated good-bye, and went 
on her way with an easy mind.


It was not long before some one 
came knocking at the house-door, and crying out: "Open the door, my dear
 children, your mother is come back, and has brought each of you 
something." But the little kids knew it was the wolf by the hoarse 
voice. "We will not open the door," cried they; "you are not our mother,
 she has a delicate and sweet voice, and your voice is hoarse; you must 
be the wolf." Then off went the wolf to a shop and bought a big lump of 
chalk, and ate it up to make his voice soft. And then he came back, 
knocked at the house-door, and cried: "Open the door, my dear children, 
your mother is here, and has brought each of you something." But the 
wolf had put up his black paws against the window, and the kids seeing 
this, cried out, "We will not open the door; our mother has no black 
paws like you; you must be the wolf." The wolf then ran to a baker. 
"Baker," said he, "I am hurt in the foot; pray spread some dough over 
the place." And when the baker had plastered his feet, he ran to the 
miller. "Miller," said he, "strew me some white meal over my paws." But 
the miller refused, thinking the wolf must be meaning harm to some one. 
"If you don't do it," cried the wolf, "I'll eat you up!" And the miller 
was afraid and did as he was told. And that just shows what men are.


And now came the rogue the third time to the door and knocked. "Open, 
children!" cried he. "Your dear mother has come home, and brought you 
each something from the wood." - "First show us your paws," said the 
kids, "so that we may know if you are really our mother or not." And he 
put up his paws against the window, and when they saw that they were 
white, all seemed right, and they opened the door. And when he was 
inside they saw it was the wolf, and they were terrified and tried to 
hide themselves. One ran under the table, the second got into the bed, 
the third into the oven, the fourth in the kitchen, the fifth in the 
cupboard, the sixth under the sink, the seventh in the clock-case. But 
the wolf found them all, and gave them short shrift; one after the other
 he swallowed down, all but the youngest, who was hid in the clock-case.
 And so the wolf, having got what he wanted, strolled forth into the 
green meadows, and laying himself down under a tree, he fell asleep.


Not long after, the mother goat came back from the wood; and, oh! what a 
sight met her eyes! the door was standing wide open, table, chairs, and 
stools, all thrown about, dishes broken, quilt and pillows torn off the 
bed. She sought her children, they were nowhere to be found. She called 
to each of them by name, but nobody answered, until she came to the name
 of the youngest. "Here I am, mother," a little voice cried, "here, in 
the clock case." And so she helped him out, and heard how the wolf had 
come, and eaten all the rest. And you may think how she cried for the 
loss of her dear children.


At last in her grief she wandered out 
of doors, and the youngest kid with her; and when they came into the 
meadow, there they saw the wolf lying under a tree, and snoring so that 
the branches shook. The mother goat looked at him carefully on all sides
 and she noticed how something inside his body was moving and 
struggling. Dear me! thought she, can it be that my poor children that 
he devoured for his evening meal are still alive? And she sent the 
little kid back to the house for a pair of shears, and needle, and 
thread. Then she cut the wolf's body open, and no sooner had she made 
one snip than out came the head of one of the kids, and then another 
snip, and then one after the other the six little kids all jumped out 
alive and well, for in his greediness the rogue had swallowed them down 
whole. How delightful this was! so they comforted their dear mother and 
hopped about like tailors at a wedding. "Now fetch some good hard 
stones," said the mother, "and we will fill his body with them, as he 
lies asleep." And so they fetched some in all haste, and put them inside
 him, and the mother sewed him up so quickly again that he was none the 
wiser.


When the wolf at last awoke, and got up, the stones inside
 him made him feel very thirsty, and as he was going to the brook to 
drink, they struck and rattled one against another. And so he cried out:

"What is this I feel inside me Knocking hard against my bones? How should such a thing betide me! They were kids, and now they're stones."

So he came to the brook, and stooped to drink, but the heavy stones 
weighed him down, so he fell over into the water and was drowned. And 
when the seven little kids saw it they came up running. "The wolf is 
dead, the wolf is dead!" they cried, and taking hands, they danced with 
their mother all about the place.