Thursday, 3 March 2016

The Frog Prince



The Frog Prince   Grimm’s Brothers
   One fine evening,  a young princess went out to take a stroll by herself in the woods.   When she came to a cool spring of water,  she sat herself down to rest for a while.  Now she had her favourite golden ball in her hand,    She was always tossing it up into the air and catching it again as it fell.  She had a lot of fun with it.    
Then she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell.  And the ball bounded away, and rolled along on the ground and fell down into the deep spring.  
The princess began to cry helplessly as she said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.'
Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why are you weeping so bitterly?'
 'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.'
The frog said, 'I do not want your pearls, jewels and fine clothes.  But if you will love me, let me live with you,  eat from your golden plate, and sleep on your bed,  I will bring you your ball again.'
 'What nonsense,'  thought the princess, 'this silly frog is talking!  He can never even get out of the spring to visit me  though he may be able to get my ball for me.  Therefore I will tell him he *shall have what he asks.'  
So, the princess promised him so.
Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water.   After a little while,  he came up again with the ball in his mouth and threw it on the edge of the spring.   
   As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up.   She was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again that she forgot about her promises to the frog.   She ran home with it as fast as she could.
     The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, and take me with you as you have promised.'
    That evening, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise - tap, tap - plash, plash -   something was coming up the marble staircase.  Soon afterwards there was a gentle knock at the door, and a little voice cried out and said:
       'Open the door, my princess dear,
        Open the door to thy true love here!
        And mind the words that thou and I said
        By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
     Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten. At this sight, she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could and came back to her seat.
     When the king, her father saw that something had frightened her and asked her what the matter was.   The princess told the king frankly what had happened and what she had promised.
     While she was speaking, the frog knocked again at the door, and repeated the chant.   Then the king told to the young princess to keep her promises.
     She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight on to the table where the princess was sitting.   Then he requested the princess to lift him up and put him next to her.    
     As soon as she had done so, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me so that I may eat out of it.'
      She did so and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, 'Now I am tired; carry me upstairs, and put me into your bed.'   Though the princess was really unwilling, she took him up in her hand and put him upon the pillow of her own bed where he slept all night long.
     As soon as it was morning, the frog jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house.   The princess was glad that he had gone, thinking that she was out of trouble with this nasty frog.  But she was mistaken for when night came again,  the frog came once more.  It knocked at the door and repeated the same chant.
     The princess opened the door for the frog to come in, have dinner with her and sleep upon her pillow as before till the morning broke.   And the third night he did the same.   But when the princess woke up in the following morning,  she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, standing at the head of her bed.  He was gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. 
     He told her that he had been enchanted by a wicked witch, who had changed him into a frog.   He had been fated so to abide till a princess should take him out of the spring and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights.
     'You,' said the prince, 'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but your hand.   Will you marry me so that I can love you as long as you live?'
     The  princess accepted his proposal shyly.   A few days later,  a brightly coloured coach with eight beautiful horses drove up and his faithful servant, Urich brought them back to the kingdom.  Everybody in the kingdom was overjoyed and there was a grand celebration of their wedding ceremony.  Everybody was invited to attend the feast.  There was great happiness throughout the kingdom.



The Frog Princes
Words and Phrases
1.  take a stroll
2.  in the woods
3.  take a rest
4.  for a while
5.  favourite               (fa-vou-rite)  /ˈfeɪvərɪt/
6.  catch            catching            caught      caught
7.  fall               falling                fell            fallen
8.  miss + F2
     She missed catching the ball.
9.  throw           throwing            threw                thrown
10.  jewel     /ˈdʒuːəl/      jewellery    /ˈdʒuːəlri/
11.  nasty                  /ˈnɑːsti/
12.  nonsense   /'nɒnsəns/
13.  promise   /ˈprɒmɪs/     promising          promised (F3/F4)  
14.  to be frank      /fræŋk/    frankly
15.  knock at
16.  request       requesting                requested
17.  eat             eating               ate            eaten
18.  upstairs   X  downstairs  (Adv. of place)
19.  am/is/are/was/ were willing    X    unwilling     (Adj)
20.  in trouble    X    out of trouble   (Prepositional phrase)
21.  take            taking               took          taken
       mistake      mistaking           mistook     mistaken
       She was mistaken/wrong .  (Adj)
       F4 can function as Adjective and is called Verbal Adjective
22.  chant  /ʧɑ:nt/
23.  astonish      astonishing                astonished (F3/F4)
  
    She was astonished  (F4) (Verbal Adjective)

24.  gaze on       /geIz/        gazing               gazed
25.  He had been fated so  
       Past Perfect Tense    
       The Active Voice                  The Passive Voice
        [S] had F4                         [S] had been F4

Answer all the Wh-questions in full.  
1.  What was the princess doing one fine evening?
2.  What happened to her golden ball?
3.  How did she react to the situation?
4.  What did the frog say he could do for her?
5.  What did the frog asked in return?
6.  Did the princess keep her promise at first?
7.  Was she frightened when the frog came to the doorstep?
8.  How did she react at first at the sight of that ugly frog?
9.  Who made her decide to keep her promise?
10.  How did she carry out her promises?
11.  How do you think the princess must have felt when she saw it again
       the second night?
12.  How did the princess feel to see a handsome prince standing at the
       head of her bed?
13.  What had happened to him? 
14.  How did the prince help him break the spell?
15.  How do you think the prince’s faithful servant, Urich came to know
       that  the spell had been broken and he had come back to his normal
       self again?  (make a reasonable conclusion)

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