The Maiden and the Frog
Many years ago there lived on the brow of a mountain, in the north of England, an old
woman and her daughter. They were very poor, and obliged to work very hard for their
living, and the old woman's temper was not very good, so that the maiden, who was very
beautiful, led but an ill life with her.
The girl, indeed, was compelled to do the hardest work, for her mother got their
principal means of subsistence by traveling to places in the neighborhood with small
articles for sale, and when she came home in the afternoon she was not able to do much
more work. Nearly the whole domestic labor of the cottage devolved therefore on the
daughter, the most wearisome part of which consisted in the necessity of fetching all the
water they required from a well on the other side of the hill, there being no river or
spring near their own cottage.
It happened one morning that the daughter had the misfortune, in going to the well, to
break the only pitcher they possessed, and having no other utensil she could use for the
purpose, she was obliged to go home without bringing any water. When her mother returned,
she was unfortunately troubled with excessive thirst, and the girl, though trembling for
the consequences of her misfortune, told her exactly the circumstance that had occurred.
The old woman was furiously angry, and so far from making any allowances for her
daughter, pointed to a sieve which happened to be on the table, and told her to go at once
to the well and bring her some water in that, or never venture to appear again in her
sight.
The young maiden, frightened almost out of her wits by her mother's fury, speedily took
the sieve, and though she considered the task a hopeless one to accomplish, almost
unconsciously hastened to the well. When she arrived there, beginning to reflect on the
painful situation in which she was placed, and the utter impossibility of her obtaining a
living by herself, she threw herself down on the brink of the well in an agony of despair.
Whilst she was in this condition, a large from came up to the top of the water, and
asked her for what she was crying so bitterly. She was somewhat surprised at this, but not
being the least frightened, told him the whole story, and that she was crying because she
could not carry away water in the sieve.
"Is that all?" said the frog; "cheer up, my hinny! for if you will only
let me sleep with you for two nights, and then chop off my head, I will tell you how to do
it."
The maiden thought the frog could not be in earnest, but she was too impatient to
consider much about it, and at once made the required promise. The frog then instructed
her in the following words:
Stop with fog (moss),
And daub with clay;
And that will carry
The water away.
Having said this, he dived immediately under the water, and the girl, having followed
his advice, got the sieve full of water, and returned home with it, not thinking much of
her promise to the frog. By the time she reached home the old woman's wrath was appeased,
but as they were eating their frugal supper very quietly, what should they hear but the
splashing and croaking of a frog near the door, and shortly afterwards the daughter
recognized the voice of the frog of the well saying:
Open the door, my hinny, my heart,
Open the door, my own darling;
Remember the word you spoke to me
In the meadow by the well-spring.
She was now dreadfully frightened, and hurriedly explained the matter to her mother,
who was also so much alarmed at the circumstance, that she dared not refuse admittance to
the frog, who, when the door was opened, leapt into the room, exclaiming:
Go wi' me to bed, my hinny, my heart,
Go wi' me to bed, my own darling;
Remember the words you spoke to me,
In the meadow by the well-spring.
This command was also obeyed, although as may be readily supposed, she did not much
relish such a bedfellow. The next day, the frog was very quiet, and evidently enjoyed the
fare they placed before him, the purest milk and the finest bread they could procure. In
fact, neither the old woman nor her daughter spared any pains to render the frog
comfortable. That night, immediately supper was finished, the frog again exclaimed:
Go wi' me to bed, my hinny, my heart,
Go wi' me to bed, my own darling;
Remember the words you spoke to me,
In the meadow by the well-spring.
She again allowed the frog to share her couch, and in the morning, as soon as she was
dressed, he jumped towards her, saying:
Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart,
Chop off my head, my own darling;
Remember the words you spoke to me,
In the meadow by the well-spring.
The maiden had no sooner accomplished this last request, than in the stead of the frog
there stood by her side the handsomest prince in the world, who had long been transformed
by a magician, and who could never have recovered his natural shape until a beautiful
virgin had consented, of her own accord, to make him her bedfellow for two nights. the joy
of all parties was complete; the girl and the prince were shortly afterwards married, and
lived for many years in the enjoyment of every happiness.
James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps: Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. London
1849, p. 43 ff. (AT 440, England)
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