ONCE, IN OLDEN TIMES, when wishes still had power, there lived a king. All of his daughters were beautiful, but the youngest was the loveliest of all. The sun itself, which sees so much, was dazzled when its light shone on her face.

Thus begins The Frog Prince, the classic fairy tale, best known in the version set down by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. When a young princess meets a frog after she drops her favorite toy into a well, she thoughtlessly makes a promise to love him if he retrieves it. But once the frog fetches her toy, she runs away-until the king insists that she keeps her word. Frightened and repulsed by the frog, she is forced to let him share her meal and must then let him share her room.