The Legend of the Frog Prince

In the fertile delta region of the Mekong River, where the water runs like liquid jade and rice paddies stretch to the horizon, there lived a poor fisherman named Bình and his daughter Hồng. Their small bamboo house stood on stilts beside a quiet canal, and their daily meals came from whatever fish Bình could catch in his weathered nets.

Hồng was eighteen years old, with eyes as bright as stars and a heart so kind that even the smallest creatures seemed drawn to her gentle nature. Each morning, she would sit by the water’s edge, weaving fishing nets while humming old folk songs her grandmother had taught her.

One particularly hot afternoon, as Hồng sat in the shade of a coconut palm repairing nets, she heard a small, desperate voice calling from the water.

“Help me! Please, someone help me!”

Looking around in confusion, she finally spotted a large green frog trapped under a fallen branch near the water’s edge. The poor creature was struggling to free itself, its bulging eyes filled with panic.

“Oh, you poor little thing,” Hồng murmured, carefully lifting the heavy branch. The frog hopped free and sat looking up at her with what seemed like gratitude.

“Thank you, kind maiden,” said the frog, much to Hồng’s amazement. “You have saved my life.”

Hồng blinked in surprise. While Vietnam had many legends of talking animals, she had never encountered one herself. “You… you can speak?”

“Indeed I can,” replied the frog, his voice clear and oddly refined. “And because you have shown me such kindness, I wish to repay you. Each day at sunset, come to this spot by the water, and I will bring you a gift.”

Though puzzled by this strange encounter, Hồng was too polite to refuse. “If it pleases you to do so, little frog, then I will come.”

That evening, as the sun painted the sky in shades of gold and pink, Hồng returned to the water’s edge. The frog was waiting for her, and beside him was a beautiful pearl, perfectly round and lustrous as moonlight.

“This is for you,” said the frog, “as thanks for your kindness.”

Hồng gasped in wonder. “But this is too precious! I cannot accept such a valuable gift.”

“Kindness should always be rewarded,” the frog replied gently. “Please, take it.”

The next evening, the frog brought her a golden lotus blossom that never wilted. The third day, it was a silver fish scale that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Each gift was more beautiful than the last.

Her father Bình was amazed by these mysterious presents. “Daughter, where do these treasures come from?”

Hồng told him about the talking frog, and though Bình found it hard to believe, the evidence was before his eyes. They sold one of the pearls in the market, and for the first time in years, their family had enough money for new clothes and abundant food.

As weeks passed, Hồng found herself looking forward to her daily meetings with the frog. He was intelligent and well-spoken, with knowledge of literature, music, and distant lands. They would talk for hours as the sun set over the delta, and Hồng began to feel a strange affection for her amphibian friend.

“Tell me,” she asked one evening, “how did you come to speak like a human? Surely you are no ordinary frog.”

The frog was quiet for a long moment, then sighed deeply. “You are perceptive, dear Hồng. Indeed, I was not always as you see me now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am Prince Thăng Long of the northern kingdom,” the frog revealed. “I was cursed by an evil sorceress for refusing to marry her daughter. She transformed me into a frog and banished me to these waters, saying I could only return to human form if someone of pure heart learned to love me despite my appearance.”

Hồng’s hand flew to her mouth. “A prince! But why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Would you have believed me? And would it have mattered? I wanted you to care for me as I am, not for who I might become.”

Over the following months, Hồng’s feelings for the frog prince deepened. She admired his wisdom, his gentle nature, and his concern for others. When rainy season brought flooding to the village, the frog taught her which herbs could heal the sick and where to find food when the markets were closed.

“I have grown to love you,” Hồng admitted one evening as they sat watching fireflies dance over the water. “Not because you are a prince, but because you have shown me what true nobility looks like. It comes not from royal blood, but from a kind heart and generous spirit.”

The moment she spoke these words, a brilliant light surrounded the frog. Hồng shielded her eyes, and when the light faded, a handsome young man stood before her in robes of silk and gold. His face was kind and intelligent, with the same gentle eyes she had come to love.

“The curse is broken,” Prince Thăng Long said, taking her hands in his. “Your love has set me free.”

But their joy was interrupted by the sound of approaching boats. The evil sorceress who had cursed the prince had sensed the breaking of her spell and came racing across the water in a boat rowed by demons, her eyes blazing with fury.

“You think you have won?” she shrieked. “I will destroy you both before I allow my curse to be broken!”

The sorceress raised her hands to cast a terrible spell, but Prince Thăng Long stepped protectively in front of Hồng. At that moment, all the creatures that Hồng had helped over the years came to their aid. Fish leaped from the water to create a barrier, birds dove from the sky to confuse the sorceress, and even the water buffalo from nearby farms came thundering to help.

The combined power of all these grateful creatures, led by their love for kind-hearted Hồng, overwhelmed the sorceress. Her evil magic turned back upon her, and she dissolved into mist that was blown away by the wind, never to trouble anyone again.

Prince Thăng Long and Hồng were married in a ceremony that lasted three days and three nights. The prince brought prosperity to the entire delta region, building schools and hospitals and ensuring that no family would ever go hungry again.

But what people remembered most was how the royal couple would walk together each evening to the spot where they first met, and how they always took time to help any creature in need, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

Hồng became known throughout Vietnam as the Frog Princess, and mothers would tell their daughters her story to teach them that true love sees beyond appearances and that kindness to all living things brings its own rewards.

And they say that even today, if you are kind to the frogs that live near the water in the Mekong Delta, they will bring you good luck and happiness, for they remember the story of the prince who was saved by a loving heart and the village girl who became a queen through the power of compassion.

The palace that Prince Thăng Long built still stands by the water, and in its gardens grow the descendants of the golden lotuses he once gave to Hồng—flowers that bloom eternally as a symbol of love that transforms not through magic, but through the simple act of seeing the beauty in others that others might overlook.