One fine evening a young Princess was playing with her favourite ball. She tossed it up and down and after some time she missed catching it. The ball bounced away and disappeared in to a water well. The Princess looked in to the spring but it was very deep; so deep that that she could not see the bottom of it. She began to cry and said, "I would give anything to have my ball back! Anything in the world!"

While she spoke, a frog popped its head out of the water, then said, "Princess, if I give you your ball back will you let me live with you? I only want to sleep on your bed, eat from your golden plate, and for you to love me."

The Princess doubted that the frog would ever be able to make it out of the well on his own. She crossed her fingers and agreed. As soon as the frog tossed her ball back out of the well to her, she disappeared. The frog called after her, "Stay, Princess! Take me with you as you said," but she did not stop to hear a word.

The next day, just as the Princess had sat down to dinner, there was a gentle knock at the door. A little voice cried out and said, "Open the door, my Princess, dear. Open the door, for your true love is here!"

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 frightened, shut the door as fast as she could and returned to her seat. The King, her father, asked about the frog. Understanding that she had broken her promise, he commanded her to invite him in for dinner. She did so, and the frog hopped in to the dining room, jumped up on the table and began to eat from her golden plate.

As soon as he had eaten all that he could handle, the frog said, "Now I am tired. Carry me upstairs and put me in your bed." And the Princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand and put him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he proceeded to sleep all night long.

As soon as it was light out the frog jumped up, hopped downstairs and left the house. The Princess thought he was gone for good but, she was mistaken and this routine carried on for two more nights.

On the third morning, the Princess awoke to a handsome Prince standing in her room. He told her that he had been cursed by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him in to a frog and that the spell could only be lifted if a Princess let him eat from her plate and sleep on her bed for three nights.

"You," said the Prince, "have broken the spell, and now I have nothing more to wish for than for us to go away to my father's kingdom so that we can marry each other."

The Princess agreed and very soon, a brightly coloured coach drove up, being pulled by eight beautiful horses. They then took leave of the King and left for the Prince's kingdom, where they did marry each other and lived happily together for many years.