THE HORNED TOAD PRINCE

by Jackie Mims Hopkins

THE HORNED

TOAD PRINCE

UNIT 3

Modern fairy tales are fairy tales that are set in modern times. Like all fairy tales, they are stories with magical characters and events. As you read, think about how this story might be different if it were set in a long-ago time of kings and queens -and princes.

Genre

• Setting
• Characters
• Story events
• Lesson learnt

YOU CAN DO IT!

Think about the following aspects

How could a horned toad possibly be a prince? Reba Jo loved to twang her guitar and sing while the prairie wind whistled through the thirsty sagebrush. Singing with the wind was one of the ways Reba Jo entertained herself on the lonesome prairie. Sometimes she amused herself by racing her horse, Flash, across her daddy´s land. But her favorite pastime of all was roping. She lassoed cacti, water buckets, fence posts, and any unlucky critter that crossed her path. One morning, as she was looking for something to lasso, Reba Jo came upon a dry riverbed. Her daddy had warned her to stay away from these arroyos. He´d told her that a prairie storm could come, causing a flash flood to rip through the riverbed. The water would wash anything or anyone in its way."

Reba Jo knew she should turn back. But she spied a fat vulture sitting on top of a dried-up old well. She just wanted to lasso it around his long ugly neck. As Reba Jo´s lasso whirled into the air, a great gust of wind came and blew her new cowgirl hat right off her head and down to the bottom of the dusty old well. Reba Jo peered down into the darkness and commenced to crying. Suddenly she heard a small voice say, “Que pasa, señorita?” She looked around and wondered if the wind blowing through the arroyo was fooling he r ears. But then, there in the sand, she spotted a big fat horned toad looking up at her. “What´s the matter, señorita?” he asked again. “Oh,” she cried, “the brand-new hat my daddy bought for me just blew down into the stinkin´ old well. I´ll never be able to get it out, and I´ll be in a peck of trouble when he finds out I´ve been playin´ down here near the arroyo”.

The horned toad looked at her and said “I´ll fetch your sombrero for you if you will do tres pequeños favors for me”. She sniffed and asked, “Three small favors? Like what?” “All you have to do is feed me some chili, play your guitarra for me, and let me take a siesta in your sombrero.” “Some chili, a song, and a nap in my hat? I don´t think so, amigo,” replied Reba Jo. “Okay, señorita, but do you mind if I follow you home and listen as you explain to your padre where your new sombrero is, and how it got there?” “Good point, toad,” Reba Jo said. “You´ve got yourself a deal.” Reba Jo placed the little critter in a bucket and carefully lowered him down the dry well, where he caught Reba Jo´s hat. Then, without so much as a muchas gracias, Reba Jo snatched her hat from the horned toad and galloped home. As she rode out of sight, she ignored the horned toad´s cries of “¡Espérate! Wait up, señorita, wait up!” Long about midday, when Reba Jo had sat down to eat, she heard a tap, tap, tapping at the ranch house door.Reba Jo opened the door, but when she saw it was the fat horned toad, she slammed the door in his face. His small voice called, “Señorita, señorita, por favor. Please let me come in.”

The horned toad insisted. This time Reba Jo´s father opened it and spotted the little toad on the porch. “Hola, señor,” said the horned toad. “Well, mister toad. What brings you here?” “A little deal that I made with your daughter, señor.” “What´s this all about, Reba Jo?” her father asked her. Reba Jo admitted that the horned toad had done her a favor and in return she had promised to feed him some chili, play her guitar for him, and let him take a nap in her hat. “Now, Reba Jo,” said her daddy, “If you strike a bargain in these parts, a deal´s a deal. Come on in , you look hungry.” “I am indeed. Yo tengo mucha hambre,” said the horned toad. “I hope that is chili I smell.” He peeked at Reba Jo´s meal.. She pushed her bowl of chili toward him. Soon the horned toad´s belly was bulging. “Now, for a little serenata,” he said. Reba Jo stomped over, grabbed her guitar, and played a lullaby for her guest. Then the drowsy little horned toad eyed Reba Jo´s hat and yawned, saying, “That lovely music has made me muy soñoliento. I´m ready for my siesta.” “Forget it, Toad,” Reba Jo snapped. “You´re not gettin´near my hat. No toads allowed!”

“Now señorita, remember what your wise padre said about striking a bargain in these parts,” said the clever little horned toad. “I know, I know,” grumbled Reba Jo, “A deal´s a deal.” And with that, she placed him into her hat. “Before I take my siesta, I have just one more favor to ask,” said the horned toad. “Now what?” asked Reba Jo. “Would you give me a kiss, por favor?” asked the horned toad. “You´ve gotta be kiddin´!” shrieked Reba Jo. “You know that a kiss wasn´t part of this deal!” “If you do this one last thing for me, we´ll call it even, and I´ll be on my way pronto,” the horned toad said. “You´ll leave right away?” Reba Jo asked suspiciously. “You promise?” “Sí, te prometo,” agreed the horned toad. Reba Jo thought hard for a minute. She glared at the horned toad. “I can´t believe I´m even considerin´ this,” she said, “but if it means you´ll leave right now…. Let's do it” Before Reba Jo could wipe the toad spit off her lips, a fierce dust devil spun into the yard, and whirled him around . When the dust cleared, there before Reba Jo stood a handsome young caballero. “Who are you?” Reba Jo demanded, staring at the gentleman. “I am Prince Maximillian Jóse Diego López de España.” “Whoa, how did this happen?” Reba Jo asked in amazement.

“Many, many years ago when I came to this country, I offended the great spirit of the arroyo. The spirit put a spell on me and turned me into a horned toad. For many years I´ve been waiting for a cowgirl like you to break the spell. Muchas gracias for my freedom, señorita. Now I´ll be leaving as I promised.” “Now hold on for just a minute,” said Reba Jo, stepping in front of the nobleman. “I´ll recall my daddy readin´ me a story where somethin´ like this happened. Aren´t WE supposed to get hitched and ride off into the sunset?” With a twinkle in his eye, the caballero replied, “Lo siento. So sorry, Reba Jo, when you strike a bargain in these parts, a deal´s a deal. Adiós, señorita!”

THANK

YOU!