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" Das Märchen von der Padde" (" The Tale of the Toad") is a German folktale collected by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching in Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden (1812). It has been translated into English under the titles of " Puddocky" or " Cherry the Frog-Bride".
The king decides to allow fate to choose his successor from among his three sons. He sets them the task of finding a hundred-yard piece of linen fine enough to fit through a ring. While the two oldest princes choose to follow busier roads and collect bales of linen, the youngest son sets out on a dark and lonely road. He comes into a marsh, where he encounters a toad which offers him the fabric he needs. It exceeds his brothers' discoveries. The king then sends them out to find a dog that can fit inside a walnut shell. Again, the toad provides.
For the third task, the king orders them to return with a bride. The one who obtains the most beautiful wife will be king. This time, the toad herself accompanies the youngest prince, riding in a cardboard carriage drawn by rats, with hedgehogs for outriders, a mouse for a coachman, and two frogs as footmen. When they turn a corner, the prince is astonished to see the carriage replaced by a beautiful coach with human attendants, and that the toad has become a beautiful woman whom he recognizes as Parsley. He is selected as the new king, and marries Parsley.
Andrew Lang translated the tale under the title of "Puddocky". In Lang's version, the owner of the parsley garden is a witch who demands that the girl be handed over to her, as in Rapunzel.
Gail Carson Levine adapted this story in her children's book For Biddle's Sake.
A Hungarian variant, Ribike, shows the titular Ribike also obsessed with her favourite type of fruit, Redcurrant. After being cursed by a nun, she helps the prince in lizard form.János Berze Nagy. Népmesék Heves- és Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok-megyébol (Népköltési gyüjtemény 9. kötet). Budapest: Az Athenaeum Részvény-Társulat Tulajdona. 1907. pp. 460-470.
In a French tale, La Belle Blonde (Blond Beauty), the girl’s fairy foster mother keeps her in a tower only accessible by climbing her long hair. When the girl runs away with a prince, the fairy angrily turns her into a frog. To divide his kingdom between his sons, the king challenges the prince and his brother to bring home beautiful brides. The frog begs the fairy for help, and is restored to humanity. The king then requires his sons to build castles; the girl goes once more to the fairy, who creates a castle of silver for her. The girl and her husband win a portion of the kingdom.
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