Polish Tales

THE FROG PRINCESS

There was once a king, who was very old and had three grown-up sons. So he called them to him, and said, “My dear sons, I am very old, and the cares of government are tiring. Therefore I must give them over to one of you. But as it is the law that no unmarried prince may be King, I want you all to get married, and whoever chooses the best wife shall be my successor.”

So they decided each to go a different way, and settled it this way. They went to the top of a very high tower, and each one shot an arrow in a different direction to the others. Wherever their arrows fell they were to go in search of their future wives.

The eldest prince’s arrow fell on a palace in the city, where there lived a senator, who had a beautiful daughter. So he went there, and married her.

The second prince’s arrow struck a country-house, where a very pretty young lady, the daughter of a rich gentleman, was sitting. So he went there, and proposed to her, and they were married.

But the youngest prince’s arrow shot through a green wood, and fell into a lake. He saw his arrow floating among the reeds, and a frog sitting on it, looking fixedly at him.

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