The Frog Prince
Once upon a time there lived a King who had several beautiful daughters,
but the youngest was even more beautiful than the rest.
Near the castle of this King was a large and
gloomy
forest.
Just a short walk into the trees was a small
clearing .
At the far side stood an old time tree, and
beneath
its branches
splashed
a
fountaine
in the middle of a dark deep pool. Whenever it was very hot,the King´s youngest daughter would
run off into the wood and and sit by the pool, throwing her golden
ball into the air. This was her favour
pastime .
One afternoon when the Princess threw the ball high up in the air she didn´t catch it!
It slipped through her fingers onto the grass. Then it rolled
past
her into the fountaine, and disappeared beneath the water. The Princess
peered
into the pool, but her
precious
golden ball was gone. Quickly, she
plunged
her arms into the pool as far a she could reach, but she could
feel nothing except
weeds and water
lilies.
Some people said the pool was so deep it had no bottom. So when
the Princes realised her golden ball was gone forever she began to cry.
"Come back to me this minute,golden ball,"
sobbed
the Princess,
staring
hard into the water. Now
as a rule
, Princesses are used to getting their own way. So after her golden ball didn´t magically pop up out of the water, she started to
howl
even louder. Dear, oh dear! First, she
stamped
her feet and then she threw herself down on the grass
in temper.
The Princess was making so much noise, that she didn´t notice a big green frog
stick his head out
of the water and jumped onto the grass beside her. "Don´t cry beutifull Princess," the frog
croaked .
"I saw your golden ball fall into the water, and it will be my pleasure to
dive down
and get it for you, if you will give me something
in return.
" At this the Princess cheered up. "I will gladly give you my jewels
and pearls, even my golden crowns, if you will bring back my golden ball." It´s true to say that promises is
a thing that must be kept - especially to frogs! The frog hopped near to the Princess." Pearls and jewels
and golden crowns are no use to me," he went on,"but if you´ll love me and be my friend, if you
let me eat from your golden plate, drink from your golden cup, and sleep on your golden bed, I will dive down
and fetch your ball." So
eager
was the Princess to see her golden ball once more, that she didn´t
listen to carefully to what the frog had to say." I promise you all you ask, if only you will bring me back my
ball. "Quick as a flash, the frog jumped into the pool then
bobbed up
again with the ball in his mouth.
Straight away
the King´s daughter
snatched
her ball and ran back to the castle. "Take me with you," cried the frog.
"I cannot run as fast as you and I shall be left behind". But the Princess didn´t care about her promise
and soon forgot all about the frog. Later that day, when the Princess was sitting at the table, something
was heard coming up the
marble
stairs,"Splish, splosh." The sound came neare and neare and a voice cried,
"Let me in, youngest daughter of the King." The Princess jumped up to see who had called her.
Now when she
caught sight of
the frog, she turned very pale. "What does a frog want with you?"
demanded
the King, looking rather surprised. The princess hung her head. "When I was sitting playing by
the fountaine my golden ball fell into the water. This frog fetched it back for me because I cried so much.
"The Princess started to cry again. "I promised to love him and let him eat from my golden plate,drink
from my golden cup, and sleep in my golden bed." The King looked at the frog and thought
for a while
before he spoke. "Then you must keep your promise, my daughter." The Princess knew she must
obey, so she
beckoned the frog to come inside. The frog hopped in after her and jumped up into her chair and straight
onto the table."Now push your golden plate near me," said the frog,"so that we may eat together."
As she did so, the frog leapt onto her plate and
boggled up
all her dinner, which was just as well, because
the Princess didn´t feel much like eating. Next, the frog drank from her little golden cup until
it was quite empty. Somehow the Princess didn´t feel at all thirsty either! After the frog had finshed,
he took one great leap and landed on the Princess´s knee. "Go away you ugly cold frog!" she screamed.
"I will never let you sleep on my lovely clean bed!" This made the King very angry. "This frog helped you
when you need it. Now you must keep your promise to him."I am very tired after that wonderful meal",
the frog said," and you did promise that i could go to sleep on your golden bed." Very
unwillingly
the Princess picked up the frog and carried him upstairs to her room. When the frog hopped into the the middle of her golden
bed,it was just too much for the Princess. She
tugged
hard at the
coverlet
and
tipped
the poor frog onto the flooor. As he fell ha was changed into a handsome Prince. A
spell
had been
cast
on him by an
evil whitch and only the Princess had the power to break it. The Princess was
speechless . She felt very sorry indeed that
she had been so unkind to the frog. After a while, the handsome Prince and the Princess got married, and
I´m sure lived happily ever after.
gloomy [glu:mu] - homályos, komor, bús, nyomasztó
clearing - (erdei) tisztás, kiárusítás, elszámolás
at the far side - a túlsó oldalon
beneath [bi´ni:&] - lenn, alatt
splash [splä] - loccsan, csobog
fountain [fauntin]
pastime - idotoltés,szórakozás
peer [piô] - pillant, mereven bámul
precious [preôs] - értékes, drága, becses
plunge [pland] - blemárt
weed - gyom, gaz
lily - liliom
sob - zokog - vzlykat
staring - bámészkodva
as a rule - rendszerint
howl [haul] - bombol
stamp - dongol, toporzekol, pecsetel
in temper - mérgében
to stick out - kidug
croak [krouk] - brekeg
dive down - alámerul
in return - vminek fejében/ellenében
cheer up - felvidul
hop - szokdecsel
eager - mohó, sóváró
flash - villanás, lobbanás
bop up - felbukkan, felmerul
straight away - azon nyomban
snatch -odakap, megragad, megkaparint
marble - márvány
catch sight of - megpillant, észre vesz
pale [peil] - sápadt
demadn [di´ma:nd] - kér, kovetel, igényel
for a while - egy kis idore
obey - engedelmeskedik
beckon - bólint, odaint,odahív
it´s just as well - nem is baj
to boggle up - elfuserál, felzavar, elront
tug [tag] - ránt, neghúz
unwillingly - kelletlenul
coverlet - ágytakaró
tip - kiborít
spell - varázslat, bubáj
cast - kiszab,kioszt
evil - gonosz
speechless - szótlan