Kolkata, West Bengal
Once there was a king. He had a very beautiful daughter. The beautiful princess played with a golden ball in the palace garden all day long. But one day, what happened was that the golden ball fell into the water of a pond. Now what will happen! How will she play? The ball is under the water! In sadness, she began to cry bitterly.
Suddenly, a hideous frog emerged from the water and asked, "What happened, princess? Why are you crying like this?"
The princess pointed to the water and said, "My ball has fallen in there."
— "Oh, is that so? Alright, don’t cry like that anymore. I will bring your ball from the bottom of the water. But what will you give me in return?"
The princess was so eager to get her ball back that she blurted out without thinking, "I will give you whatever you want."
Hearing this, the frog immediately dove into the water and within an instant returned with the ball in front of the princess. He said, "Here is your ball. But remember, you said that I can have whatever I want. So from now on, I will be your friend. I will play with you. I will eat from your plate. I will come to your house and sleep with you. Is that alright?"
— "Yes, yes, that's alright." Saying this, the princess took the ball and ran away. In fact, she had no intention of befriending that hideous frog. She had only said that to get her ball back.
The next morning, when she woke up, the princess saw the ugly frog standing in front of her bedroom. Immediately, she got angry. She shouted, "What are you doing here? Go away from here, go away!"
The frog said, "You promised me yesterday! That’s why I have come to be with you."
The princess did not want the frog to stay with her at all. But the king was a very good man. Hearing everything, he told his daughter, "When you have made a promise, you must keep it. From now on, he will stay in this palace with you, whether you like it or not."
So, the frog stayed in the palace.
At mealtime, when the maid called, the princess quickly went to the dining table. Seeing that, the frog hopped after her and arrived there. He said, "Princess, I will eat from your plate. You promised me, remember?"
Hearing the frog's words, the princess became extremely angry. But, to avoid upsetting the king, she tried very hard to control herself. The frog, however, was completely unconcerned about her feelings. He took food from the princess's plate and began to eat, making her feel disgusted. Unable to bear it, she left the dining table in a fit of rage.
The frog said, "Oh princess, where are you leaving me? Wait, wait, I will go with you. I will play with you. I will sleep in your room. Don’t you remember, you made a promise?"
Hearing the frog, the princess could no longer control herself. In a fit of rage, she grabbed the frog and threw him against the wall. And with the impact against the wall, the frog turned into a handsome prince.
Seeing this, the princess was completely stunned.
Then the prince said, "Many years ago, an evil witch cursed me to be a frog in this pond. When I was crying and helpless, I guess she took pity on me. So she said that only if a princess threw me against a wall would I be freed from this magical curse. You have freed me from the witch's spell by throwing me against the wall. Because of you, I could transform back from a frog to a human. I am grateful to you. Will you marry me, princess?"
The princess lowered her eyes in embarrassment. What else could she do? The two were soon married with great celebration and began to live happily ever after.