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Many, many years ago, there lived a king. He had many beautiful daughters. And the youngest one was very lovely, and even the sun was surprised to see her when he shone on her face.
Near the king's castle lay a dark, gloomy forest. In the middle of the forest there was a fountain.
One day, the king' s daughter went into the forest when it was very hot. She sat down on the side of the cool fountain. Then she began to toss a golden ball in the air, and catch it. It was a most interesting game to her.
Once, however, the king' s daughter failed to catch the golden ball. It fell on the ground, and rolled into the water.
The princess followed it with her eyes, but soon it disappeared. The water was very deep and she could not see the bottom.
Then she cried aloud, and began to weep. Soon she heard a voice. It said, "Why are you weeping, princess? Your tears can melt even the stones!"
She looked around and saw a frog. He was stretching his thick ugly head out of the water.
"Oh, there you are, old waterpaddler," she said. "I am crying for the loss of my golden ball. It has fallen into into the fountain."
很久很久以前，有一位国王，他有很多美丽的女儿。而小女儿更是楚楚动人，连太阳照在她脸上时都会觉得惊讶。
在国王的城堡附近有一片幽暗的森林。森林中央有一座喷水池。
有一天，天气很热，国王的小女儿到森林里去。她坐在清凉的喷水池旁边。然后她开始往空中抛金球，再把它接住。对她来说，这是非常有趣的游戏。
然而，有一次国王的女儿没能将球接住。它掉在地上，然后滚进水中。
公主的眼光追随着它，不久它就消失了。水非常深，她见不到底。
这时她大声喊叫，开始哭了起来。不久她听到一个声音说：“你为什么哭呢，公主？你的眼泪甚至能把石头溶化掉。”
她四处看了一下，看到了一只青蛙，它那肥厚而又丑陋的脑袋正伸出水面。她说：“哦，原来是你这划水家伙在这儿。我哭是因为我的金球不见了。它掉到喷水池里去了。”
"Then weep no more," said the frog. "I can get it for you. But what will you give me if I fetch your plaything?"
"Oh, I will give you anything, dear frog," she replied. "What will you want----my dresses, my pearls and jewels, or my golden crown?"
"I don't want any of them," answered the frog. "Your clothes, your pearls and your jewels, or even your golden crown, are nothing to me. I want you to love me, and let me be your companion. I'd like to sit at your table, eat from your golden plate, and drink out of your cup, and sleep in your nice bed. If you promise me all this, I will dive down into the water and bring up your pretty golden ball."
“Oh, yes," she replied. "I will promise you anything if only you bring back my ball."
But she thought to herself that a silly frog like him could not be fit to associate with mankind.
青蛙说：“不要哭了，我可以帮你拿回来。但是如果我把你的玩具找回来，你要给我什么呢？”
她回答说：“哦，我会给你任何东西，亲爱的青蛙。你要什么－－我的衣服，珍珠，珠宝还是我金色的王冠呢？”
青蛙答道：“我不要这些东西。你的衣服，珍珠，甚至于你金色的王冠对我来说，不值一文。我要你爱我，并让我做你的伴侣。我要坐在你桌子上，用你的金盘吃东西，用你的杯子喝水，并睡在你舒适的床上。如果你答应我这些，我就潜到水里去把你漂亮的金球拿上来。”
她回答说：“哦，好的。只要你把我的金球拿回来，我什么都答应你。”
但是她心想，像它那样愚笨的青蛙是不配和人类交往的。
The frog believed the king' s daughter. He dipped his head under the water and dived to the bottom. After a while he carried the ball to the surface, and threw it onto the grass.
When the king' s daughter saw the beautiful ball, she was full of joy. She took it and ran away as fast as she could.
"Wait, wait," cried the frog. "Take me with you! I can't run as fast as you. " But the young princess would not listen to the frog's croaking. She ran to the palace as fast as she could, and soon forgot the poor frog. So the frog returned to the fountain and remained there.
The next day, however, when the princess was sitting with the king and eating out of her own little golden plate, she heard a strange noise on the marble steps outside. Then came a knock on the door, and a voice cried, "Lovely princess, open the door for me. " So she rose and went to the door.
青蛙相信国王女儿的话。它把头浸入水里，潜至水底。过了一会儿，它把球带出水面，并把它抛在草地上。
国王的女儿看到她漂亮的球时，非常高兴。她把它拿起来，然后飞快地跑掉了。
青蛙叫道：“等一等，带我一起走。我没有办法和你跑得一样快。”但是这位年轻的公主根本不理青蛙的叫声。她尽快地跑回皇宫，不久就把那可怜的青蛙忘记了。于是青蛙返回喷水池旁并待在那儿。
然而，第二天当公主和国王坐在一起，用她的小金盘吃东西时，她听到外面大理石台阶上传来奇怪的声音。然后传来敲门声，一个声音叫道：“美丽的公主，请为我开门。”于是她就起身走到门口去。
But when she caught sight of the frog, she closed the door and seated herself again at the table. She looked quite pale. When the king saw that his daughter was frightened, he asked, "My child, what is at the door? Has a giant come to carry you away?"
“Oh, no, Father," she replied, "it is no giant, only a very ugly frog."
“A frog! What can he want with you, my daughter?"
"Ah, my dear father, I will tell you all about it. Yesterday when I was playing with my golden ball by the fountain in the forest, it rolled into the water, and because I cried, the frog fetched it for me, and 1 promised him that he could come to the castle and be my companion. I thought he could not get out of the water to come to me, and now here he is."
Just then came a second knock on the door, and a voice cried, "King's daughter, king's daughter, open the door for me. You promised that I could be your companion when you sat in the shade and 1 fetched your ball from the bottom of the fountain."
但是当她看到那只青蛙时，便关上门又坐回她的位子上。她看起来脸色苍白。当国王发觉她女儿被吓到时，便问道：“孩子，在门外的是谁？是巨人要来把你带走吗？”
她回答：“哦！不是的，父亲。那不是巨人，只不过是只非常丑的青蛙。”
“青蛙！它找你做什么呢，女儿？”
“哦，亲爱的爸爸，我会告诉您一切。昨天我在森林里的喷水池旁玩金球时，它滚到水里面去了。因为我哭了，所以那只青蛙就帮我把球找回来，而我答应它可以到城堡来做我的朋友。我以为它不可能从水中跑来找我，但是现在它已经来了。”
就在此时，传来第二次敲门声，一个声音叫道：“国王的女儿，为我开门。你坐在树荫下，而我为你从水底取出你的球时，你曾答应我可以做你的朋友的。”
"Then, my daughter," said the king, "you must keep your promise. Go and let him in at once." So she had to go and open the door, and the frog hopped in after her.
When she sat down, he cried, "Take me up by you." She didn't want to take him up at first, but her father told her to lift the frog onto the chair by her side.
When he was placed on the chair, he jumped upon the table and said, "Now, push your little golden plate nearer, and we will eat together." The princess did as he told her, but everyone could see that she disliked it.
At last he said, "I have eaten and drunk quite enough, and 1 feel very tired, so now carry me upstairs into your little bedroom. Let' s sleep together."
When the princess heard this, she began to weep. She was really of the cold frog. She could not even touch him, and now he wanted to sleep in her neat, beautiful little bed.
国王说：“既然如此，女儿，你必须信守你的诺言。立刻让它进来。”她不得已只好去开门，青蛙跟在她后头跳进来。
当她坐下时，它叫道：“把我抱起来坐在你旁边。”起初她不肯把它抱起来，但是她父亲要她把青蛙捧起来放在她旁边的椅子上。
当它被放到椅子上时，它跳到桌子上说：“现在，把你的小金盘推近一点，我们一起来吃东西。”公主照它的话做了，但是每个人都可以看得出来她非常不愿意。
最后它说：“我已经吃饱喝足，而且觉得累了，所以现在带我上楼到你的小卧房去。让我们睡在一起。”
当公主听到这些话时，她开始哭了起来。她真的很害怕这只冰冷的青蛙。她甚至不敢摸它，而现在它竟然要睡在她整洁、漂亮的小床上。
But the king was displeased at her tears, and he said, "Don’t despise the frog. He helped you when you were in trouble."
Then she took up the frog with two fingers, carried him upstairs and placed him in a comer of her room.
In the evening, however, when the princess was in bed, the frog crept out of his corner and said to her, "1 am very tired. Lift me up and let me sleep in your bed, or I will tell your father."
When the princess heard this, she got very angry. She seized the frog in her hand and threw him against the wall. She said, "You will be quiet now, 1 hope, you ugly frog."
But as he fell, how surprised she was to see the frog! Because the frog had changed into a handsome young prince with beautiful eyes. Afterwards the prince became her constant companion, and at last her father gave his consent to their marriage.
The prince said to her, "I was changed into a frog by a wicked witch, so 1 had to live in the fountain. Only you could release me. No one else in the world had the power to do so.”
但是国王对她的眼泪感到很不悦，就说道：“不要瞧不起青蛙。当你有困难时是它帮了你。”
于是她用两根手指头夹起青蛙，把它带到楼上去放在她房间的一个角落里。
然而，当晚上公主就寝时，青蛙从角落里爬出来说：“我很累了。把我捧上去睡在你的床上，要不然我就告诉你父亲。”
公主听到这些话时，非常地生气。她把青蛙捉在手上扔向墙壁。她说：“我希望你现在能安静一点，丑陋的青蛙。”
但是青蛙落下时，看到它的样子，她大感惊讶！因为青蛙变成了一位有一双美丽眼睛的英俊王子。之后，王子变成她的终身伴侣，最后国王同意了他们的婚事。
王子告诉她说：“我被一个坏巫婆变成一只青蛙，所以我只能住在喷水池里。只有你能解救我。世界上没有任何其他人可以办得到。”
The young prince told her that when they were married, he would take her to his own kingdom. So on the wedding day, a splendid carriage drove up to the door. It was drawn by eight white horses. They had white feathers on their heads and golden harnesses, and by the side of the carriage stood the prince's faithful steward, Harry.
This faithful Harry had been very unhappy when his master was changed into a frog. His hear almost burst with sorrow. So he fastened three iron bands round his heart.
The carriage with the prince and his bride quickly drove away with Harry behind. Harry was full of joy because the spell on his master had been broken. Soon they heard a loud crack.
Now the prince knew nothing of the iron bands round his servant's heart, so he cried out, "Harry, is the carriage breaking?"
"No, sir," he replied. "Only the iron bands round my heart are breaking because 1 am so happy to see my master traveling back to our kingdom with a beautiful bride."
The prince and the princess never forgot faithful Harry. （The End）
年轻的王子对她说他们结婚后，要带她回去他自己的王国。于是在他们结婚的那一天，一辆华丽的马车开到门口。那是一辆由８匹白马所拉的马车。马头上都装饰着白色的羽毛，全身套着金色的马具，在马车的一旁站着王子的忠实仆人哈利。
当他的主人被变成青蛙时，忠实的哈利非常不开心。他的心因悲伤而几乎崩裂。所以他用３条铁片捆住他的心。
马车载着王子和他的新娘很快地驶走了，哈利紧跟在后面。因加在他主人身上的诅咒已经解除，哈利满心欢喜。不久他们听到一声很大的破裂声。
王子不知道捆在他仆人心上铁片的事，所以他大声问：“哈利，是马车断裂了吗？”
他回答：“不是的，殿下，只是我心上的铁片断裂了，因为见到我的主人带着一位漂亮的新娘回国，我太高兴了。”
王子和公主从没忘记过忠实的哈利。 ( 结束 )
一、重点段落及词语
Once upon a time there lived a king and his daughters. They were all beautiful, but the youngest was the prettiest of them all. Even the sun was astonished by her beauty when it shone in her face.
once upon a time 从前
astonished adj. 感到吃惊的
beauty n. 美貌
There was a great dark forest near the king’s castle. In the forest, under an old lime-tree, there was a well. One day the youngest princess went out into the forest, and played beside the well. She took a golden ball, threw it up and caught it. The ball was her favorite toy.
lime-tree n. 菩提树
well n. 井
princess n. 公主
favorite adj. 最喜爱的
Suddenly the princess did not catch the ball. It fell onto the ground, and rolled straight into the well. She followed it with her eyes, but it vanished in the water. The well was very deep. She could not see the bottom.
suddenly adv. 突然
roll v. 滚动
vanish v. 消失
She began to cry, and cried louder and louder. Suddenly she heard someone talking to her,“Why are you so sad, little princess?”She looked around, and saw a little frog jumping out of the well. It has a big and ugly head.
ugly adj. 丑陋的
The princess said she was weeping for her golden ball. It had fallen into the well. The frog asked,“What will you give me if I bring it up again?”She said anything he would like. The frog said,“If you love me, and let me be your companion, I will bring your golden ball back again.”
weep v. 哭泣
companion n. 同伴
“Oh yes,” said she, “I promise you all you wish, if you bring my ball back again.”But she thought,“What a silly frog! He can only sit in the water and croak. He cannot be my companion.”But when the frog had received her promise, he jumped into the water. In a short while he came up again with the ball.
promise v. 答应
silly adj. 愚蠢的
croak v. 嗄嗄叫
in a short while
片刻之后
The princess was delighted to see her ball. She picked it up, and ran away. “Wait, wait,”said the frog. “Take me with you. I can’t run as fast as you.” But she did not listen to him. She ran back home and soon forgot the poor frog. He had to go back into his well again.
delighted adj. 高兴的
pick up 捡起
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