OriginalThe Frog Princess
11 min read ages 5 and up talerie.com/en/tales/the-frog-princess-original
Prince Ivan’s arrow lands in a muddy swamp, and a croaking frog catches it. The tsar says it must be his fate, so Ivan marries her. When the tsar demands a soft white loaf from each son’s wife by morning, Ivan goes home with a heavy heart.
Once upon a time, in a certain kingdom, in a certain land, there lived a tsar and his tsaritsa. They had three sons, all young, all unmarried, and so brave and handsome that no tale could tell it and no pen could write it. The youngest was called Prince Ivan.
One day the tsar said to them, “My dear children, take an arrow each, draw your strong bows, and shoot, each in a different direction. Wherever your arrow falls, there you will find your bride.”
The eldest brother’s arrow fell in a boyar’s courtyard, right below the window of the boyar’s daughter. The middle brother’s flew into a merchant’s courtyard and stopped at the front steps, where the merchant’s lovely daughter stood. The youngest brother’s landed in a muddy swamp, and a croaking frog caught it.
“How can I marry a frog?” said Prince Ivan. “A frog is no match for me!”
“Take her!” the tsar answered. “It must be your fate.”
So the princes were married: the eldest to the boyar’s daughter, the middle one to the merchant’s daughter, and Prince Ivan to the croaking frog.
Then the tsar called his sons and said, “By tomorrow, let each of your wives bake me a soft white loaf.”
Prince Ivan went back to his rooms with a heavy heart, hanging his head low.
“Croak, croak, Prince Ivan! Why so sad?” asked the frog. “Did your father say something unkind to you?”
“How can I help being sad? My father the tsar has ordered you to bake him a soft white loaf by tomorrow.”
“Don’t grieve, Prince Ivan. Go to sleep. The morning is wiser than the evening.”
She put the prince to bed, threw off her frog skin, and turned into a lovely young woman, Vasilisa the Wise. She went out onto the front steps and called in a ringing voice, “Nurses and nannies! Gather around, get ready, and bake a soft white loaf like the bread I used to eat at my own father’s table.”
When Prince Ivan woke in the morning, the frog’s bread was already waiting, and it was so splendid that no one could imagine or guess it; only a tale could tell it. It was decorated with all kinds of clever work, and along its sides stood the tsar’s cities, gates and all.
The tsar thanked Prince Ivan for the bread and at once gave his three sons a new command: “Let each of your wives weave me a carpet in a single night.”
Prince Ivan went home again with a heavy heart, hanging his head low.
“Croak, croak, Prince Ivan! Why so sad?” asked the frog. “Did your father say something harsh and unkind to you?”
“How can I help being sad? My father the tsar has ordered a silk carpet woven for him in a single night.”
“Don’t grieve, Prince Ivan. Go to sleep. The morning is wiser than the evening.”
She put him to bed, threw off her frog skin, and turned into Vasilisa the Wise. She went out onto the front steps and called in a ringing voice, “Nurses and nannies! Gather around, get ready, and weave a silk carpet like the one I used to sit on in my own father’s house!”
No sooner said than done. When Prince Ivan woke in the morning, the frog’s carpet was already waiting, and it was so wonderful that no one could imagine or guess it; only a tale could tell it. It was worked in gold and silver, in clever patterns.
The tsar thanked Prince Ivan for the carpet and at once gave another command: all three princes were to come before him with their wives, so he could look them over.
Once more Prince Ivan went home with a heavy heart, hanging his head low.
“Croak, croak, Prince Ivan! Why so sad?” asked the frog. “Did your father say something unfriendly to you?”
“How can I help being sad? My father the tsar wants me to bring you along so he can see you. How can I let people see you?”
“Don’t grieve, Prince Ivan. Go to the tsar alone, and I’ll come after you. When you hear knocking and thunder, say, ‘That’s my little frog coming in her little box.’”
The elder brothers came with their wives in all their finery, and they stood laughing at Prince Ivan. “Why have you come without your wife, brother? You could at least have carried her in a handkerchief! And where did you ever find such a beauty? You must have tramped through every swamp in the land!”
All at once there came a great knocking and thunder, and the whole palace shook. The frightened guests jumped up from their seats and didn’t know what to do.
“Don’t be afraid, good people!” said Prince Ivan. “That’s my little frog coming in her little box.”
A gilded carriage drawn by six horses dashed up to the palace steps, and out stepped Vasilisa the Wise, so beautiful that no one could imagine or guess it; only a tale could tell it. She took Prince Ivan by the hand and led him to the oak tables spread with patterned cloths.
The guests began to eat and drink and make merry. Vasilisa the Wise drank from her glass and poured the last drops into her left sleeve; she ate some roast swan and hid the bones in her right sleeve. The wives of the elder princes saw what she did and began to do the same.
Later, when Vasilisa the Wise went to dance with Prince Ivan, she waved her left hand, and a lake appeared; she waved her right, and white swans swam out on the water. The tsar and his guests were amazed!
Then the elder brothers’ wives went to dance. They waved their left hands and splashed the guests; they waved their right hands, and a bone flew straight into the tsar’s eye! The tsar grew angry and drove them out in disgrace.
Meanwhile Prince Ivan picked his moment, ran home, found the frog skin, and burned it in a great fire.
When Vasilisa the Wise came home and found her frog skin gone, she grew sad and said to the prince, “Oh, Prince Ivan, what have you done? If you had only waited a little longer, I would have been yours forever. But now, farewell! Look for me beyond thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-tenth kingdom, at the house of Koschei the Deathless.”
She turned into a white swan and flew out of the window.
Prince Ivan wept bitterly. He prayed to God, bowing in all four directions, and set off wherever the road took him. Whether he walked near or far, for a long time or a short time, at last he met a very old man.
“Good day, young man!” said the old man. “What are you looking for? Where are you going?”
The prince told him everything that had happened.
“Ah, Prince Ivan! Why did you burn the frog skin? You didn’t put it on, so it wasn’t yours to take off! Vasilisa the Wise was born cleverer and wiser than her father. That made him angry, and he condemned her to be a frog for three years. Here is a ball of thread. Wherever it rolls, follow it and don’t be afraid.”
Prince Ivan thanked the old man and followed the ball of thread. As he crossed an open field, he came upon a bear. “I’ll kill this beast!” he said.
But the bear spoke to him. “Don’t kill me, Prince Ivan! Someday I’ll be of use to you.”
Prince Ivan walked on, and a drake flew over his head. He raised his gun and was about to shoot the bird, when all at once it spoke in a human voice.
“Don’t kill me, Prince Ivan! I’ll be of use to you, too.”
He took pity on the drake and went on. Then a hare came running past. The prince reached for his gun again and took aim, but the hare spoke in a human voice.
“Don’t kill me, Prince Ivan! I’ll be of use to you, too.”
Prince Ivan took pity on the hare and went on until he came to the blue sea. There on the sand lay a pike, gasping its last.
“Oh, Prince Ivan,” said the pike, “have mercy on me and let me back into the sea!”
Prince Ivan threw the pike back into the sea and walked on along the shore.
Whether it took a long time or a short time, at last the ball of thread rolled up to a little hut. The hut stood on hen’s legs and turned round and round.
Prince Ivan said, “Little hut, little hut, stand as your mother set you: your back to the sea, your front to me.”
The hut turned its back to the sea and its front to him. The prince went inside, and there on the stove, on the ninth brick, lay Baba Yaga, bone leg, her nose grown into the ceiling, sharpening her teeth.
“Well now, young man! What brings you to me?” Baba Yaga asked.
“Oh, you old crone! You should have given me food and drink and a hot steam bath first, and asked your questions after.”
Baba Yaga fed him, gave him something to drink, and steamed him in the bathhouse. Then the prince told her he was looking for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.
“Ah, I know!” said Baba Yaga. “She is with Koschei the Deathless now. It will be hard to get her back, because Koschei is not easy to beat. His death is at the tip of a needle; the needle is in an egg, the egg is in a duck, the duck is in a hare, the hare is in a chest, and the chest stands at the top of a tall oak. Koschei guards that oak like the apple of his eye.”
Baba Yaga showed him where the oak grew. Prince Ivan went there, but he didn’t know what to do. How could he reach the chest?
All at once, out of nowhere, the bear came running and tore the tree up by its roots. The chest fell and smashed to pieces. A hare leaped out of the chest and ran off as fast as it could, but look! Another hare was already chasing it; it caught the first hare and tore it to pieces.
Out of the hare flew a duck, and it rose high, high into the sky. The drake rushed after it and struck it so hard that the duck dropped the egg, and the egg fell into the sea.
Prince Ivan saw that all was lost and burst into tears. Just then the pike swam up to the shore with the egg in its teeth. He took the egg, broke it, drew out the needle, and snapped off the tip. No matter how Koschei thrashed and flung himself about, he had to die!
Prince Ivan went into Koschei’s house, took Vasilisa the Wise, and brought her home. After that they lived together long and happily.
Retold by Talerie from Народныя русскія сказки (opens in a new window) Public domain Copy this text, adapt it, use it however you like. A link back to Talerie is appreciated but never required. CC0 1.0 (opens in a new window)