Adaptación del libro “El día de la rana”, de Esther Elexgaray Cruz y Raúl Domínguez Pazo
Ilustradores y adaptadores: Iker Etxarte y Jonan Villanueva Coordinadora: Piluka Labayen I.E.S. Zizur B.H.I. Curso escolar 2011-2012
Adaptado al inglés por el grupo de 1º de bachillerato, modelo G, Coordinado por Rosa Fontal Reglero Curso 2012-2013
The day of the Red frog A very long time ago, in English lands close to the sea but hidden among the mountains, there was a tiny kingdom that could not be found on any map. In that kingdom of only a 100 people, lived King Abdon and Queen Ingrid with their children: Princess Susan and Prince Hector.
At Hector´s baptism something happened which was common to such kingdoms never to be found on maps. Countess Morgana, known as the wizard Morgana, furious because she hadn’t been chosen Hector´s Godmother, stood before the child and cast her spell. MORGANA: - “You will only find true love if before midnight on a twelfth of February, you kiss a red frog.”
As time passed, what happened that day was forgotten. Hector, grew up healthy and strong, with the affection of his family. But, as the years went by, he started wondering about Morgana’s spell, and he asked his sister: HECTOR: - “Will I ever find true love as my parents have? Will I ever have a family of my own? And what if there isn´t a single red frog in the world? Susan was unable to respond and she felt very worried so she told her parents about Hector´s words.
Every night the Prince had the some dream: as he was lying in his bed he heard voices of someone laughing in the gardens of palace. Also, he heard short laughs as if when someone tickled you. Then, a high-pitched voice as if it were a little girl calling out said: GIRL 1: “Daddy, come play with us!” And another voice softer almost as a caress, whispered behind his back. GIRL 2: “We should change the old canons for slides.”
Hector´s parents were worried about Susan´s words. Hector had now become a grown up man so they decided to challenge Morgana´s spell by gathering the people of the kingdom and King Abdon spoke to them: KING ABDON: - “From this day on, every twelfth of February we will celebrate the Day of the Red Frog and everyone is invited to come. Also, whoever first brings me a red frog will receive twelve gold coins for it.”
Enthusiastically, Queen Ingrid, ordered a beautiful silk and tulle dress, as she was sure that, once her son kissed the frog, it would became a gorgeous princess whom she would give the delicate gown to.
Some years went by and at each celebration on the twelfth of February, there were long queues of people each with a red frog. But all these frogs would turn green once dipped into the pond. That is because the guests at the celebration coloured simple green frogs red hoping to receive the reward of twelve gold coins King Abdon had promised.
But one day on the twelfth of February when the tower clock was about to strike midnight, a freckled faced little girl came running across the enormous palace gardens with a red frog in her hands. When King Abdon dipped it into the pond waters and saw that the red colour did not fade away, without hesitation he called Prince Hector who took the frog in his hands and kissed it.
All of a sudden, the frog disappeared. The guests at the celebration watched mouth-opened as once where the frog was, slowly and magically a figure of a person began to appear. Once the figure was completed, there was a handsome, smiling, elegantly dressed young man. PRINCE ADRIAN: - “Hello! I´m Prince Adrian” Hector recognized the voice immediately. It was the voice he had heard in his dreams.
Their eyes met and they felt as if they had seen each other long before and ever since that moment, had been searching for each other. Hector half-stammering answered: PRINCE HECTOR: - “He.. hell…o. I…… I´m……..Prin….Prince….. H..Hector. Plea…..Pleased t..to meet you.
But, what did the King and the Queen think about that? Both Princes´ stood before them, nothing like this had ever happened in any of the neighbouring Kingdoms: always, the Prince heir had married a Princess. Always, the enchanted frog had changed into a beautiful princess. But the spell that Morgana had cast, only said – true love. And that precisely is what they were looking at, true love.
King Abdón kept silent during a few instants. Then, his face lit up with a big smile and said: KING ABDON: “Come to my arms!” Then both Princes’ ran towards the king and they held in a warm embrace, so Prince Adrian was accepted. That same night Queen Ingrid held that beautiful dress that she had ordered in her arms. When the King saw her he said: KING ABDON: “Darling you’d better change that dress for a handsome suit.” QUEEN INGRID: “Yes, of course.” And moved, they hugged each other.
Laura, the girl with freckles on her face and who had given Prince Hector the frog, was playing on the slides in the garden where there were no cannons. She was playing there because she had rejected the reward of 12 gold coins in exchange for something much better.
The girl requested to be adopted by the Princes´ as she was an orphan, and even before she had met them, she already loved them since she had seen them in her dreams. Now they are playing happily in the garden with slides, tickling each other and reading different bedtime books before falling asleep.
THE END