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Tale Summary

Long ago, there was a great king who decided it was time for his three sons to be married. He instructed each of them to shoot an arrow into the sky, and that their bride would be found where it lands. The oldest let an arrow fly, where a beautiful princess in a neighboring kingdom picked it up, and when she wondered at it, her father told her to save it for the one who would marry her. The prince found her and she would not let up the arrow because only the one who would be her husband could take it from her, and so they were engaged. The second son launched his arrow into the courtyard of a nearby merchant, whose beautiful daughter was found by the prince with the arrow in her hands. She, too, refused to give it up because it belonged to the man who would marry her, and they were engaged. The youngest son, named Vasyl, shot his arrow into a swamp, where a frog found it. She would not give it up to him, saying that it belonged to her future husband, and so he carried her home. The king and queen had a triple wedding ceremony, and all three couples were given a house. After some time they resolved to get to know their new daughters-in-law, and so instructed their sons to have their wives make them a piece of cloth to test their spinning and weaving skills. Vasyl’s heart sank, and went home to weep. His frog wife comforted him, telling him to sleep and see what tomorrow would bring. As soon as he drifted off, his wife shed her frog skin to become a beautiful young maiden and magically made a loom, yarns, and a dozen maids appear. They worked all night and made two fine embroidered shirts of linen, which his wife laid on Vasyl’s pillow before again becoming a frog. The king and queen marveled at these shirts, saying the other maidens had only given them handkerchiefs. They went on to ask that their daughters-in-law bake a sweet treat for the next day, testing their cooking skills. Vasyl again went home feeling defeated, and again his wife urged him to bed. That night, she again used magic to conjure ingredients and helpers and made a huge beautifully decorated cake which pleased the king and queen greatly, as the other two maidens’ treats were inedible. However proud he was of his wife, the third request crushed Vasyl, as his parents wished to hold an event for everyone in the kingdom to feast and dance with them. Seeing how disheartened her husband was when he came home, the frog told him to wait and see what the next day would bring. As Vasyl prepared for the feast, she told him that he must go ahead to the party, and know that when it began to rain she would be bathing, that when the lightning was flashing she was getting dressed, and that when the thunder cracked her carriage would arrive at the castle. At the party, his brothers made fun of him for his frog bride. All were astounded to hear him say that his wife was washing and dressing herself as a storm began, but when thunder cracked she entered the room as a very beautiful woman draped in a rainbow gown. She had strange table manners as she slipped wine and chicken bones down her sleeves, and because the other two daughters-in-law did not want to be outdone by her again they did the same. The king told his sons to lead the dance with their wives, Vasyl going first. His wife waved each arm and from the right came a glittering pond, and from the left snowy swans which glided on it as tiny stars fell. The other two wives attempted to mimic the princess but only wine and chicken bones flew out of their sleeves. The king invited everyone to dance to stop their embarrassing display when Vasyl slipped home to solve his wife’s mystery. He found the frog skin on the floor and understood what had happened and so burned it. When he brought the princess home she despaired to learn what he had done, telling him that his father had placed a spell on her and that now she must return to the crystal kingdom, and so left as a cuckoo bird. After several days, the prince packed his bow and arrows to search for her. He searched for a long time but no one knew anything about the crystal kingdom until one day he met a shriveled old man who gave him a ball of string and instructed him to follow it wherever it went. Vasyl went through a dark wood and met a bear, who advised him not to shoot because he would someday be a friend. He spared him, and later spared both a large falcon and a pike for the same reason. When he reached the end of the string he found a little hut where Baba Yaha lived, and she told him that the frog princess now belonged to her brother, who was a dragon in the crystal kingdom, which was on an island in the middle of the sea. When the prince reached the water’s edge, the pike appeared and created a bridge for him. He crossed the bridge into a forest, where he almost died of hunger but was saved when the falcon brought him a rabbit, and the bear appeared afterwards to clear him a path through the trees. Vasyl’ entered the castle on the other side of the woods, and found his love alone in a room sorrowfully spinning as though in a trance. As soon as he spoke to her she smiled and told him that the spell was broken, but they heard the footsteps of the dragon approaching. The princess turned into a cuckoo and carried her husband through a window, and after many days they returned home and she resumed her human form. They were happy this way for the rest of their days.��

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