The Frog Princess
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Image:Vasnetsov Frog Princess.jpg
The Frog Princess is a fairy tale that exists in many versions from several countries. Russian variants include the Frog Princess or The Tsarevna Frog: Царевна Лягушка; and also Vasilisa the Wise - Василиса Премудрая.
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[edit] Synopsis
The king sets his three sons (or an old peasant woman, her sons) to marry, and tests their chosen brides. The king may set them to shoot arrows and find their brides where the arrows land, and the youngest prince's arrow is picked up by a frog; the two older sons may already have girls picked out, but the youngest son -- often Ivan Tsarevich -- is at a loss until a friendly frog takes pity on him and offers to marry him.
The king then assigns his three prospective daughters-in-law various tasks, such as spinning cloth and baking bread. In every task the frog far outdoes the lazy brides-to-be of the older brothers. Still, the young prince is ashamed of his froggy bride, until she magically is transformed into a princess. In some versions of the story, the transformation is a reward for her good nature; in others, she is transformed by witches out of amusement; and in others, she is revealed to have been an enchanted princess all along.
[edit] Variants
- In an Italian variant The Prince Who Married a Frog, included by Italo Calvino in Italian Folktales, the only variation is that the princes find their brides by using slings rather than bows and arrows.
- This tale is closely related to Puddocky and its variants, in which a transformed frog helps the youngest prince after the king set three tasks to his sons to determine which one is best to rule.
- Walt Disney Feature Animation announced plans to produce an animated Frog Princess film in July 2006. The film, to be directed by Ron Clements and John Musker with music by Randy Newman, will be the studio's first traditionally animated film since 2004's Home on the Range.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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