The Toad Groom
Once upon a time, there lived an old man who became a widower with three daughters. One day, one of his daughters said to him:"Father, could you fetch me a jug of water from the well? There's not a drop of water in the house, and I need to cook some soup."
"Very well, my daughter," replied the old man.
He took the jug and went to the well. As he bent over the water to fill the jug, a toad jumped into his face and clung so tightly that no amount of effort could remove it.
"You won't get me off your face," said the toad, "until you give me one of your daughters as my wife!"
The old man left the jug at the well and ran home.
"Oh my! What has happened to you, Father?" cried his daughters when they saw him.
"Woe is me, my poor children! A vile creature jumped into my face while I was drawing water from the well. Now this monster says it won't let go until one of you agrees to marry it."
"Good heavens! What are you saying, Father?" replied the eldest daughter. "Marry a toad? It's disgusting even to look at it!"
And she turned away and left the house. The second daughter did the same.
"What can we do, my poor father?" said the youngest daughter then. "I agree to marry the toad: my heart cannot bear to see you like this!"
And the toad immediately fell to the ground. The wedding was set for the next day.
When the bride entered the church with the toad, the priest was very surprised and said he would never marry a Christian woman to a toad. But he finally agreed because the bride's father explained everything and promised him a lot of money.
Then the groom took his wife to a castle—it turned out he had a beautiful castle. When it was time to go to bed, he led his wife to the bedroom, shed his toad skin, and revealed himself as a handsome young prince. While the sun shone in the sky, he was a toad; when night fell, he became a prince.
The newlywed's sisters often visited her and were amazed to see her so cheerful—she was always laughing and singing.
"There's something going on here," they thought. "We must spy on her and find out what's happening."
One night, they quietly crept up to her bedroom door and peeked through the keyhole. How surprised they were to see a handsome young prince instead of a toad!
"Look, look! What a handsome prince! If only I had known then..." each of them muttered.
And they heard the prince say to his wife:
"Tomorrow I must leave and will leave my toad skin at home. Make sure nothing happens to it. I must wear this guise for another year and a day."
"So that's it!" thought the two sisters eavesdropping at the door.
The next morning, the prince left as he had said, and his sisters-in-law came to visit their sister.
"Oh, what beautiful things you have here! You must be so happy with your toad-husband!" they said to her.
"Indeed, dear sisters, I am very happy with him."
"Where has he gone?"
"On a long journey."
"Your hair is so lovely, sister. Would you like me to comb it for you?"
"Please, dear sister."
While they combed her hair with a golden comb, she fell asleep, and the sisters took the keys from her pocket, retrieved the toad skin from the locked cupboard, threw it into the fire, and left.
The young woman woke up and was very surprised to find herself alone in the house. Immediately after, her husband returned, red with anger.
"Ah, you cursed woman!" he shouted. "You did what I forbade you to do, you burned my toad skin, to my misfortune and yours! Now I will leave, and you will never see me again!"
The poor woman cried and said:
"I will follow you wherever you go."
"No, do not follow me, stay here."
And he rushed away. But she ran after him!
— They're telling you, stay!
— I won’t stay, I’ll follow you!
But he kept running. No matter how fast he ran, she followed closely behind. Then he threw a golden ball. His wife picked it up, put it in her pocket, and kept running.
— Go back home, go back home! — he shouted at her.
— I’ll never return without you!
Then he threw another golden ball. She picked it up, just like the first one, and put it in her pocket. Then a third ball. But since she was still following him relentlessly, he became furious and struck her right in the face. Blood splattered, and three drops landed on his shirt, leaving three stains.
At that moment, the poor woman began to fall behind. Soon she lost sight of the runaway, but she still called after him:
— May these three stains not disappear until I come to wash them away!
And despite everything, she kept running after him. Before long, she entered a dense forest, walked along a path between the trees, and saw two huge lions sitting on either side of the path. She was terrified.
“Woe is me!” she thought. “This is where I’ll meet my end, for these lions will surely tear me apart! But no matter, come what may!”
And she walked on. As she passed the lions, she was surprised to see them lie down at her feet and lick her hands. She petted them, placed her hands on their heads, and stroked them. Then she continued on her way.
Later, she saw a hare sitting by the path, and as she passed by, the hare said to her:
— Climb onto my back, I’ll take you out of the forest.
She climbed onto the hare’s back, and soon he carried her out of the forest.
— Now, — the hare said to her as they parted, — you are near the castle where the one you seek lives.
Indeed, she soon reached a grand avenue lined with old oak trees, and nearby she saw washerwomen doing laundry by a pond.
She approached them and heard one of them say:
— Oh, this shirt is truly cursed! For two years now, every time I wash it, I try to remove these three bloodstains, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get rid of them!
Hearing this, the traveler went up to the washerwoman who had spoken and said:
— Please, let me take this shirt for a moment. I think I can wash away these three bloodstains.
They handed her the shirt. She spat on the three bloodstains, dipped the shirt into the water, rubbed it a little, and immediately all three stains disappeared.
— Thank you so much, — the washerwoman said. — Our master is about to get married, and he’ll be happy to know the bloodstains are gone—it’s his best shirt.
— I’d like to find work in your master’s castle.
— A shepherdess recently left, and her position hasn’t been filled yet. Come with me, I’ll put in a good word for you.
She was taken into the castle to tend the sheep. Every day, she led her flock into the dense forest surrounding the castle, and often she saw her husband walking there with the young princess who was to become his wife. The shepherdess’s heart raced whenever she saw him, but she didn’t dare say a word.
She still had the three golden balls, and often, to amuse herself, she played with them. One day, the young princess saw the golden balls and said to her maid:
— Look! What beautiful golden balls that girl has! Go ask her if she’ll sell me one.
The maid went to the shepherdess and said:
— Shepherdess, what lovely golden balls you have! Won’t you sell one to me for the princess, my mistress?
— I won’t sell my balls, they’re my only entertainment in my solitude.
— Oh, don’t be foolish! Look how worn your dress is—sell one ball to my mistress, and she’ll pay you well, so you can dress nicely.
— I don’t want gold or silver.
— Then what do you want?
— To spend one night with your master!
— How dare you speak so shamelessly!
— Otherwise, I won’t give up my balls for anything in the world.
The maid returned to her mistress.
— Well, what did the shepherdess say to you?
— What did she say? I dare not repeat it to you.
— Speak quickly!
— That shameless girl said she would give up one of her balls only if you allowed her to spend the night with your fiancé.
— What nonsense! Well, never mind! Whatever happens, I want to have that ball. At dinner, I’ll pour a sleeping potion into my fiancé’s wine, and he won’t even see her. Tell her I agree to her condition and bring me the golden ball.
In the evening, when they rose from the table, the master felt so sleepy that he had to go to bed immediately. Soon, the shepherdess was let into his room. But in vain did she call him by the tenderest names, in vain did she kiss and shake him with all her might—nothing could wake him.
— Woe is me! — exclaimed the unfortunate woman, weeping. — So all my efforts, all the suffering I endured, were in vain! And yet I married you when you were a toad, and no one wanted to look at you! For two whole years, in heat and bitter cold, in rain, snow, and storm, I searched for you everywhere, never losing courage. And now, when I’ve finally found you, you don’t hear me and sleep like the dead! How miserable I am!
And she wept and sobbed. But alas! No one heard her.
In the morning, she drove her sheep back into the forest, sad and sorrowful. At noon, the princess, as the day before, went for a walk with her maid. Seeing her, the shepherdess began playing with the two golden balls she still had. The princess wanted to have the second ball for variety and again told her maid:
— Go to the shepherdess and buy another golden ball from her.
The maid obeyed, and in the end, the deal was struck on the same terms as the day before: to spend the night with the master of the castle in his bedroom.
The princess, as before, added a sleeping potion to her fiancé’s wine during dinner, and he, rising from the table, immediately went to bed and fell into a deep sleep. Soon, the shepherdess was brought to him again, and she began to weep and lament once more. A servant, passing by the bedroom by chance, heard the crying and stopped to find out what was happening. He was very surprised by what he heard and, in the morning, entered his master’s room and said:
— Master, there’s much happening in your castle that you don’t know about and that you should learn.
— What is it? Speak quickly!
— Several days ago, a poor woman came to the castle, looking wretched and exhausted; out of pity, she was taken in to replace the shepherdess who had recently left. One day, the princess, walking in the forest with her maid, saw the shepherdess playing with golden balls. She immediately wished to have them and sent her maid to buy them from the shepherdess at any price. The shepherdess didn’t want gold or silver but demanded, in exchange for each ball, the right to spend a night with you in your bedroom. She has already given two balls and spent two nights with you. And you noticed nothing. It’s heartbreaking to hear her cries and laments! I even think she might have gone mad, as she says very strange things—like how she became your wife when you were a toad and that she has been wandering the world for two years searching for you...
— Is all this true?
— Yes, my master, it’s true; and if you’ve known nothing about it until now, it’s because the princess has been adding a sleeping potion to your wine during dinner, and you, rising from the table, immediately go to bed and sleep soundly until morning.
— Is that so? I must be on my guard, and then you’ll soon see that things here will change.
Meanwhile, all the servants of the castle, hearing that the shepherdess was spending nights with the master, began to despise and hate her, and the cook now gave her only stale crusts, as if she were a dog.
The next day, the shepherdess drove her sheep back into the forest, and the princess bought the third golden ball from her for the same price as the first two: the right to spend the night with the master in his bedroom.
When the time for the evening meal came, the master was on his guard this time. He noticed that, while he was speaking with his neighbor, the princess again added a sleeping potion to his glass. He pretended not to notice but, instead of drinking the wine, quietly poured it under the table.
Rising from the table, he pretended to be as sleepy as before and immediately went to his bedroom. The shepherdess soon joined him. This time, he was not asleep and, as soon as he saw her, rushed to embrace her, and they wept together with happiness and joy at finding each other again.
— Go back to your room now, my poor wife, — he said afterward, — and tomorrow you’ll see that things here will be very different.
The next day, a great feast was held in the castle, at which the wedding date was to be announced. Kings, queens, princes, princesses, and many other noble lords were present. At the end of the feast, the future son-in-law stood up and said to the old master:
— Father-in-law, I would like to ask your advice on a certain matter: I had a beautiful box with a beautiful golden key; I lost the key to my box and ordered a new one. But now I’ve found my old key, so I have two keys instead of one. Which one, in your opinion, should I use to open my box?
— One should always prefer what is older, — replied the future father-in-law.
Then the prince entered the room next to the hall and returned, holding the hand of the simply dressed shepherdess, and said, presenting her to everyone:
— Well, here is my first key, that is, my first wife, whom I have finally found; this is my wife, and I love her as before, and I will never have any other!
And they returned to their country and lived there happily ever after.
And that’s the tale of the toad bridegroom. How did you like it?
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