Day Seventeen

My folktale is "The Frog Prince" by the Grimms Brothers and is written in the German culture. The story that i chose to compare it with is "The Water of Life." Although i think "The Water of Life" is more similar to "Cinderella," i think i can still relate and differentiate it with "The Frog Prince." Both folktales have little similar things in common and a lot of differences.

"The Water of Life" is able a King who has three sons and is severely ill. All three sons go in search for the water of life to cure their father's sickness. However, because the eldest and second son have rude and hasting personalities, they were instead punished by a dwarf they met along the way. Therefore, it gave the third son a chance to go in search for the water of life. Because of his generous and loving heart, the dwarf game him the items and instructions to receive the water of life. While trying to accomplish the mission, he met a young princess who agreed to marry him if he waited a year for her. Due to kind heart, he was able to get his brothers back. Because the brothers were selfish and frightened that he would steal their places in the kingdom, they took his cup of the water of life and replaced it with salt water. After his brothers betrayed him and lied to their father, the King plotted to kill his own son. However, the person who was given this task was unable to complete the King's command of killing him, he let the youngest son go. A year later, both the elder and second son went to the kingdom of where the Princess lived. Realizing that the path upon the Kingdom was of gold, they didn't go upon that path, thus the Princess knew they weren't the one. Then the youngest son went with determination and his love for the Princess, he didn't realize the golden path and walked right up, therefore, the Princess knew he was the one. The King found out the truth, so the eldest and second son ran far out unto the sea and never returned.

Because both stories were written by the same author, it was told from a German perspective. There were similar words used in both stories such as thus, thou, etc. Also, the main thing that they had in common was that the message of the folktales were similar to one another. For instance, the message in "The Frog Prince" was: Don't judge others by how they look. The elder and second sons in "The Water of Life" was like the Princess in "The Frog Prince" and judged the dwarf and was mean to him although he was just concerned about where they were going. Like the Princess, she judged the frog because he was filthy, however, he turned out to be a handsome Prince of a very wealthy family.

Although the folktales had many similarities, they had even more differences. The stories were completely different from one another. There were more characters in "The Water of Life" and the fact that the King had three sons. This folktale was more similar to "Cinderella" because the youngest son had to get the water of life before the clock struck twelve o'clock. Also, the King's condition and personality were very different from the King in "The Frog Prince." This King didn't believe his youngest son and even ordered to kill him, however, the King in "The Frog Prince" loved his daughter very much, even though she was bratty and selfish.