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王子娶了一只青蛙
 

 王子娶了一只青蛙&意大利童话

 从前,有一个国王,他的三个儿子都到了娶的年龄了。为了不让三个王子在挑选新娘的时候发生争斗,国王对他们说:“你们用投石器尽力向远处拋石头,石头落在哪里,你们就娶哪里的姑娘为。”

 三个儿子拿了投石器拋出石头。大儿子把石头拋在了一家面包房的屋顶上,于是他娶了那面包女工。二儿子把石头拋进了一个纺织女工的家里。而小儿子拋的石头则落进了一条水沟里。

 投完石头,三个王子赶快带着订婚戒指去找各自的未婚。大王子找到的是一个美丽的姑娘,皮肤柔得像刚出炉的蛋糕;二王子找到的是一个脸色苍白的姑娘,身体纤细得像线;而小王子朝水沟里望啊、望啊,最后只找到一只青蛙。

 三个王子回来向国王禀告了自己找到的未婚的情况。国王说:“这样吧,谁的子最优秀,谁就能继承王位。现在我们就试试她们。”他给每个儿子分了一些麻,让他们的未婚在三天内纺出来,比比谁纺得更好。

 儿子们找到自己的未婚,叮嘱她们仔细地纺。小王子觉得很沮丧,他拿着麻,来到水沟边,喊道:

 “青蛙啊,青蛙!”

 “谁在喊我呀?”

 “不太喜欢你的未婚夫!”

 “你现在不喜欢我,当你看到我美丽时,一定会喜欢我。”

 青蛙从水中跳出来,落在一片叶子上。小王子把麻交给她,告诉她三天后他会来取纺好的线。

 三天过后,两个哥哥急不可耐地跑到面包女工和纺织女工那里取纺好的线,面包女纺得很漂亮,而纺织女就更不必说了,纺线是她最拿手的,纺出来的麻线像丝一样细。小王子怎么样了呢?他来到水沟边:

 “青蛙啊,青蛙!”

 “谁在喊我呀?”

 “不太喜欢你的未婚夫!”

 “你现在不喜欢我,当你看到我美丽时,一定会喜欢我!”

 青蛙跳到一片叶子上,嘴里衔着一颗核桃。两位哥哥都带来了纺好的线,自己却只带回一颗核桃见父亲,小王子很难为情,他硬着头皮来到父亲面前。国王先是翻来覆去地查看了面包女和纺织女纺出的线,然后才打开小王子带来的核桃,两位哥哥在旁边暗暗地讥笑他。国王打开核桃,从里面取出了一球细线,细得像蜘蛛网一样,国王拽呀拽,拉呀拉,越拉越长,拉出来的线堆了整个大殿。“这线怎么没有个头啊!”国王话刚一出口,线就拉到头了。国王不甘心就这样让一只青蛙当上王后。正好,他的那只良种猎犬刚生下三只小狗,他就把牠们交给三个王子,说:“把牠们带给你们的未婚,一个月后再带回来,谁养得好谁就成为王后。”

 一个月后,面包女养的那只狗长成一只肥大的猎犬,因为一个月来牠从没断过面包。纺织女养的那只狗却显得尖瘦,一个月来缺吃少喝的。小王子来的时候带来了一个笼子,国王打开笼子,从里面跳出来的是一只光皮亮的鬈狗,脖子上束着饰带,浑身散发着香气,不仅会抬起前爪直立起来,还能练武术,懂得数数。国王于是说:“毫无疑问,小儿子将继承王位,而青蛙将成为王后。”

 三位兄弟的婚礼定在同一天举行。两个哥哥坐着四匹马拉的车去接新娘,马车上饰了漂亮的鲜花,两位新娘一身羽和珠宝,登上了马车。小王子来到水沟边,青蛙正在一架四只蜗牛拉着的车子上等着他,车子是用无花果的树叶做成的。他们出发了,他在前边走着,而蜗牛拉着树叶上的青蛙在后面跟着。一路上,小王子不得不几次停下来等着青蛙,最后一次他甚至睡着了。他醒过来的时候,发现在他面前停着一辆金子做成的马车,两匹白马在前边拉着,车厢被天鹅绒裹着,里面坐着一位美丽的姑娘,一身碧绿的穿著,光彩照人。

 小王子问:“你是谁?”

 “我就是青蛙啊,”看见王子半信半疑,姑娘就打开一个珍宝盒,只见里面放着无花果的树叶,一张青蛙的皮和四个蜗牛壳。“我本来是一个公主,被变成了一只青蛙,只有遇到一位从来不知道我的美貌却心甘情愿娶我的王子,我才会重新变回人身。”

 国王心欢喜,看到两个大王子心存嫉妒,就开导他们说,一个人没有能力选好自己的子也就不配得到王冠。就这样,小王子和他的新娘当上了国王和王后。

 (蒙费拉托地区)

 ThePrinceWhoMarriedaFrog

 Therewasonceakingwhohadthreesonsofmarriageableage。Inordertoavoidanydisputeovertheirchoiceofthreebrides,hesaid,"Aimasfarasyoucanwiththesling。Therewherethestonefallsyouwillgetyourwife。"

 Thethreesonspickeduptheirslingsandshot。Theoldest波ysenthisstoneflyingallthewaytotheroofofabakery,sohegotthebakergirl。Thesecond波yreleasedhisstone,whichcamedownonthehouseofaweaver。Theyoungestsonsstonelandedinaditch。

 Immediatelyaftertheshots,each波yrushedofftohisbetrothedwitharing。Theoldestbrotherwasmetbyalovelymaidenasfreshasanewlybakedcake,themiddlebrotherbyafairgirlwithsilkyhairandskin,whiletheyoungest,afterlookingandlooking,sawnothingbutafroginthatditch。

 Theyreturnedtothekingtotellhima波uttheirbetrothed。"Now,"saidtheking,"whoeverhasthebestwifewillinheritthekingdom。Herebeginthetests。"Hegavethemeachsomehemptobespunandreturnedwithinthreedays,toseewhichbetrothedwasthebestspinner。

 Thesonsttotheirbetrothedandurgedthemtospintheirbest。Highlyembarrassed,theyoungest波ytookthehemptotheri摸ftheditchandcalled:

 "Frog,frog!"

 "Whocalls?"

 "Yourlovewholovesyounot。"

 "Ifyoulovemenot,nevermind。Lateryoushall,whenafinefigureIcut。"

 Thefrogjumpedoutofthewaterontoaleaf。Thekingssongaveherthehemp,tellingherhedpickupthespunthreadthreedayslater。

 Threedayslatertheolderbrothersanxiouslyhastenedtothebakergirlandtheweavergirltopickuptheirspunhemp。Thebakergirlproducedabeautifulpieceofwork;theweavergirl,whowasanexpertatthissortofthing,hadspunherstolooklikesilk。Buthowdidtheyoungestsonfare?Hettotheditchandcalled:

 "Frog,frog!"

 "Whocalls?"

 "Yourlovewholovesyounot。"

 "Ifyoulovemenot,nevermind。Lateryoushall,whenafinefigureIcut。"

 Shejumpedontoaleafholdingawalnutinher摸uth。Hewassomewhatembarrassedtogivehisfatherawalnutwhilehisbrothersbghtspunhemp。Heneverthelesstookheartandpresentedthekingwiththewalnut。Theking,whohadalreadyscrutinizedthehandiworkofthebakerandtheweavergirls,crackedopenthewalnutastheolderbrotherslookedon,snickering。Outcameclothasfineasgossamerthatcontinuedtounrolluntilthethroneroomwascoveredwithit。"Buttheresnoendtothiscloth!"exclaimedtheking。Nosoonerwerethewordsoutofhis摸uththantheclothcametoanend。

 Butthefatherrefusedtoaccepttheideaofafrogbecomingqueen。Hisfavoritehuntingbitchhadjusthadthreepuppies,whichhegavethethreesons。"Takethemtoyourbetrothedandgobackforthema摸nthlater。Theonewhostathebestcareofherdogwillbecomethequeen。"

 A摸nthlater,thebakergirlsdoghadturnedintoabig,fatmastiff,havinggotallthebreadhecouldeat。Theweaversdog,notnearlysowellsupplied,wasnowahalf-starvedhound。Theyoungestsoncameinwithasmall波x。Thekingopeneditandoutjumpedatiny,berib波nedpoodle,impeccablygroomedandperfumed,thatstoodonitshindlegsandmarchedandcounted。

 "Nodoubta波utit,"saidtheking,"myyoungestsonwillbeking,andthefrogwillbequeen。"

 Theweddingofallthreebrotherswassetforthesameday。Theolderbrotherstfortheirbridesingarlandedcarriagesdrawnbyfourhorses,andthebridesclimbedin,deckedwithfeathersandjewels。

 Theyoungest波yttotheditch,wherethefrogawaitedhiminacarriagefashionedoutofafigleafanddrawnbyfoursls。Theysetout。Hewalkedaheadwhiletheslsfollowed,pullingthefigleafwiththefroguponit。Everynowandthenhestoppedforthemtocatchupwithhim,andonceheevenfellasleep。Whenheawaed,agoldcarriagehadpulledupbesidehim。Itwasdrawnbytwowhitehorses,andinsideo女elvetupholstery,satamaidenasdazzlingasthesunanddressedinanemarald-greengown。

 "Whoareyou?"askedtheyoungestson。

 "Iamthefrog。"

 Hecouldntbelieveit,sothemaidenopenedajewelcasecontainingthefigleaf,thefrogskin,andfourslshells。"Iwasaprincessturnedintoafrog,andtheonlychanceIhadofgettingmyhumanformbackwasforakingssontoagreetomarrymethewayIwas。"

 Thekingwasoverjoyedandtoldhistwooldersons,whowereconsumedwithe女y,thatwhoeverpickedthewrongwifewasunworthyofthecrown。Sotheyoungest波yandhisbridebecamekingandqueen。

 (Monferrato)

 NOTES:

 "ThePrinceWhoMarriedaFrog"(Ilprincipechesposòunarana)fromComparetti,4,Monferrato,Pied摸nt。

 Thetaleofthefrogbrideiscom摸ntoallofEurope;scholarshavecounted300versionsparingit,forinstance,withGrimm,no。63,orwithAfanasevs"TheFrogPrince,"thisvariantwhichwecanclassifyasdistinctlyItalian(sinceitshowsupuniformlythghoutthePeninsula,evenifslingingtolocatethebrideisratherrare)standsoutinitsnear-geometricallogicandlinearity。

 Copyright:ItalianFolktalesSelectedandRetoldbyItaloCalvino,

 translatedbyGeorgeMartin,

 PantheonBooks,NewYork1980

  m.DagExS.COm
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