I love fairy tales. I love the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, the Firebird, Boots and the Glass Mountain, Tatterhood -- but I loathe The Frog Prince.
(Spoilers follow, for the chronically illiterate amongst you!)
When a princess loses her golden ball in a well, a frog -- obviously not an ordinary amphibian -- offers to retrieve it, in exchange for a bite of her meal, and a corner of her pillow. The princess, with absolutely no intention of fulfilling such things, agrees. Toy in hand, she predictably runs off.
When the frog comes calling at the castle, her angry father forces her to adhere to her promise. Under pressure she complies, but treats her guest with loathing. He responds with nothing but justified indignance and the greatest decorum. He eats only from the periphery of her plate, when he could have rightly gorged himself on the tastiest morsels of her meal.
When he reminds her of her promise to let him sleep in her bed, she shudders with disgust but obliges, picking him up with two fingers. Unnerved, she puts him in a dark, cold corner instead; when he protests, she becomes angry, takes him in her hand, and flings him against the wall.
When he falls on the floor, the prince is transformed back into his handsome form, with whom she instantly falls in love. Then they marry. This is a happy ending.
