Open to me."

Then said the king, "What you promised you must perform. Go and open
the door."

She went and opened the door; the frog hopped in, always following and
following her till he came up to her chair. There he sat and cried
out, "Lift me up to you on the table."

She refused, till the king, her father, commanded her to do it. When
the frog was on the table, he said, "Now push your little golden plate
nearer to me, that we may eat together." She did as he desired, but
one could easily see that she did it unwillingly. The frog seemed to
enjoy his dinner very much, but every morsel she ate stuck in the
throat of the poor little princess.

Then said the frog, "I have eaten enough, and am tired; carry me to
your little room, and make your little silken bed smooth, and we will
lay ourselves down to sleep together."

At this the daughter of the king began to weep; for she was afraid of
the cold frog, who wanted to sleep in her pretty clean bed.

But the king looked angrily at her, and said again: "What you have
promised you must perform. The frog is your companion."

It was no use to complain whether she liked it or not; she was obliged
to take the frog with her up to her little bed. So she picked him up
with two fingers, hating him bitterly the while, and carried him
upstairs: but when she got into bed, instead of lifting him up to her,
she threw him with all her strength against the wall, saying, "Now,
you nasty frog, there will be an end of you."

But what fell down from the wall was not a dead frog, but a living
young prince, with beautiful and loving eyes, who at once became, by
her own promise and her father's will, her dear companion and husband.
He told her how he had been cursed by a wicked sorceress, and that no
one but the king's youngest daughter could release him from his
enchantment and take him out of the well.

The next day a carriage drove up to the palace-gates with eight white
horses, having white feathers on their heads and golden reins. Behind
it stood the servant of the young prince, called the Faithful Henry.
This faithful Henry had been so grieved when his master was changed
into a frog, that he had been compelled to have three iron bands
fastened round his heart, lest it should break. Now the carriage came
to convey the prince to his kingdom, so the faithful Henry lifted in
the bride and bridegroom, and mounted behind, full of joy at his
lord's release. But when they had gone