The Hungry Frog – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2019

(Scroll to bottom for printable PDF)

There was – once upon a time – a queen who loved parties, the fancier the better. Every season she would host a great big banquet – a great big feast. But this queen was a bit of a snob, and so she would only invite the most ‘important’ people of the kingdom: the princesses, the duchesses, the ladies-in-waiting; the princes, the dukes, the lords.

They would come from miles around to enjoy the delicious treats the Queen’s royal cooks had prepared. There would be so much food, the tables could barely hold it all!

One night as the Queen and her guests were feasting, there was a knock at the castle door. A hungry traveller was passing by, and was hoping for something to eat and perhaps a place to spend the night.

“Hmm,” said the Queen, when her servant came and told her about the traveller. “Tell me, just what is this traveller wearing?”

“Well, your majesty,” said the servant, “her cloak is rather dusty from the road and her boots are rather scuffed and worn.”

“Ugh. Completely unsuitable,” said the Queen. “Quick – send her away before she ruins my guests’ appetite.”

So the traveller was sent away, just like that, without even a crust of bread or a cup of water! Isn’t that terrible?

But what the Queen and her servant did not realize was that the traveller was actually a powerful fairy in disguise. And it is never a good thing to get on the wrong side of a powerful fairy.

This fairy threw back her cloak, raised her arm, and proceeded to cast a spell on a little frog that lived under the castle’s drawbridge. “May this be a lesson to your Queen,” said the fairy. “This frog will get hungrier and hungrier with every single bite – unless someone breaks the spell by feeding it the one thing that will satisfy its hunger.”

But without telling anyone what that one thing was, the fairy went off into the night – and was never seen again.

Well, nothing much happened after that, at least not at first, at least not that anyone noticed. What was actually happening was that that frog was eating every creepy-crawly thing that skittered, swam or flew past the moat. But no one noticed the bugs disappearing. What one of the servants did notice a few days later, was that all the fish in the moat were gone – even the biggest ones. And then a few days after that, the Queen woke up and realized that she couldn’t hear any of the songbirds that usually sang by her window in the morning.

“Where are my songbirds?” she demanded.

“Oh, your Majesty,” said the servant. “It’s that hungry frog. It’s eating all your birds. It zaps them out of the sky with its tongue, and gobbles them up.”

“Outrageous!” said the Queen. “Someone must catch the horrid thing!”

“Oh, your Majesty’s soldiers have tried,” said the servant. “But as soon as they get close, the frog just eats their swords and their arrows and their nets.”

“What a nuisance,” said the Queen.

“Indeed it is, your Majesty,” said the poor servant. “And the frog is getting hungrier every day. Why, it’s already eaten all the roses in your garden, and as we speak, I believe it’s munching on your royal garden wall.”

“Oh, for goodness sake!” said the Queen. “Quick, find something else to feed it, before it does any more damage!”

“Yes, your Majesty,” said the servant. “Shall I have your Majesty’s cooks make it something special?”

“It’s a frog,” said the Queen. “Feed it the royal kitchen scraps!”

And so, the frog was fed the royal kitchen scraps: watermelon rinds, potato peels, the Queen’s leftover porridge. Every day the cooks filled a great big pot with all the kitchen scraps, carried it down to the drawbridge, and dumped it into the moat. And every day the hungry frog gobbled up its meal – and went looking for more. It ate everything in its path: doormats and flower boxes, berry bushes and fruit trees. Why, it would have eaten people’s cats and dogs, but thank goodness, they were locked up to keep them safe.

Well, clearly this plan was not working – so, the royal cooks started making special meals for the frog after all, huge meals that would have fed half the kingdom. Every day they dumped these meals into the moat, and every day the frog gobbled them up – and was still hungry.

Finally, in desperation, the Queen did what she probably should have done from the very beginning. She posted a reward for the person who could prepare the one thing that would satisfy the frog’s hunger – and thereby break the fairy’s spell.

The news went out and cooks travelled from every corner of the kingdom, and from every neighbouring kingdom as well. They made curried crickets, eel casseroles, worm puddings, shoofly pies – anything that might taste good to a frog. They kept feeding it, and feeding it, and feeding it – and still the frog got hungrier.

Things were getting desperate. The kingdom was running out of food!

But just then one of the Queen’s scullery maids came forward. Now, a scullery maid is just a fancy name for the girl who scrubs all the royal pots and pans. This scullery maid wasn’t very old – and she certainly wasn’t very important, but she had an idea.

“Excuse me, your Majesty,” she said with a curtsy. “But I was wondering if I might try something?”

“There’s nothing left to try,” said the Queen. “That horrid frog has tasted everything but the moon. And I doubt even that would satisfy its hunger.”

But the Queen didn’t stop her, so the girl went ahead with her plan. First, she made some cucumber sandwiches and she cut them into triangles and arranged them on a pretty porcelain plate. Then she picked a handful of juicy red strawberries from the royal garden, and whipped some fresh cream, and she even made a pot of hot tea. She found a pretty blanket in the Queen’s linen closet, carefully packed everything in a picnic basket, and set out for the moat.

Now this is the important part! You see, the scullery maid didn’t just dump the contents of her picnic basket into the water, the way all the others had. No. Instead she spread the blanket on a grassy bank above the moat, set all the food very carefully, and she even put a bouquet of flowers next to the plate of cucumber sandwiches. Then in a very polite – and only-slightly-nervous – voice, she called, “Mr. Frog, Mr. Frog – would you care to join me for tea?”

There was no answer, so she called again. “It’s a lovely day. Please, Mr. Frog, would you do me the honour of your company?”

The water began to bubble, then two great, big bulging eyes appeared above the surface, then a great big warty head, then a great big frog body.

Now, a crowd had gathered above the moat to watch the commotion. Everyone was the there – the princesses, the duchesses, the ladies-in-waiting; the princes, the dukes, the lords – even the Queen herself. When they saw that great big frog hopping up the bank in their direction, they all shrieked and scurried backwards. But the scullery maid didn’t run away. Instead she smiled up at her guest. “How lovely to see you, Mr. Frog,” she said. “Would you like one lump of sugar or two in your tea?”

Well, you can imagine everyone’s shock as the little scullery maid began to serve that great, big, ugly frog with her own two hands. She fed it cucumber sandwiches, she fed it strawberries dipped in cream, she even helped it drink a cup of tea. And with every slurp and every bite – that hungry frog got a little bit smaller, and a little bit smaller, and a little bit smaller, until it was back to its original size.

“But, but, but – that’s impossible!” said the Queen. “That girl has broken the spell! But she didn’t feed the frog anything my cooks hadn’t already tried!”

One of the Queen’s bravest ladies-in-waiting spoke up. (Clear throat) “Perhaps, your Majesty, it wasn’t what she fed the frog, but how she fed it. Perhaps the one thing the frog was hungry for was – kindness.”

And so it was. From that day forward, the little frog had a normal appetite again. And to make sure that it stayed that way, the scullery maid was given a new job. She was promoted to be the frog’s special attendant. And she didn’t mind at all. It meant she had her own special room in the castle with a balcony overlooking the moat – and she never had to scrub a dirty pot or pan again.

As for the queen, she’d learned her lesson about the importance of good hospitality. She still loves fancy parties, but now when she hosts a banquet – everyone in the kingdom is invited, and no one is ever turned away.

Print PDF

This story may be reproduced and used for personal or educational purposes only. Permission must be obtained from the author for public performance, reproduction or commercial use.