The Swineherd

once upon a time lived a poor prince; his kingdom was very small, but it was large

enough to enable him to marry, and marry he would; it was rather bold of him that

he went and asked the emperor’s daughter will you marry me? But he ventured to do so

for his name was known far and wide, and there were hundreds of princesses who

would have gladly accepted him, but would she do so? Now we shall see.

On the grave of the prince’s father grew a rose tree, the most beautiful of its kind that

bloomed only once in five years, and then it had only one single rose upon it,

but the water rose; it is such a sweet scent that one instantly forgets all sorrow

and grief when one smelt it; he also had a nightingale that could sing as if every

sweet melody was in its throat; this frozen in the nightingale he wished to give

to the princess, and therefore both were put into big silver cases and sent to her;

the Emperor ordered them to be carried into the Great Hall, where the princess was just

playing; visitors were coming with her ladies-in-waiting; when she saw the large cases

with the presents therein, she clapped her hands for joy.

“I wish it were a little pussycat,”

she said, but then the Rose tree with the beautiful rose was unpacked

“Oh, how nicely it is made,” exclaimed the ladies,

“it is more than nice,” of the Emperor. “It is charming.”

the princess touched it and nearly began to cry in shame. “PAH,” she said, “it is not artificial; it is natural.”

“for shame, it is natural,” repeated all her ladies. Let us first see what the other case

contains before we are angry, said the Emperor. Then the nightingale was taken out,

and it sang so beautifully that no one could possibly say anything unkind about it soup.

Belle Schemmel said the ladies of the court, for they all prattled French, one worse

than the other,

“how much the bird reminds me of the musical box of the late lamented Empress,” said an old courtier. “It has exactly the same tone, the same execution.”

“you are right,” said the Emperor and began to cry like a little child 

“I hope it is not natural,” said the princess

“yes, certainly it is natural,” replied those who had brought the presents

“then let it fly,” said the princess and refused to see the prince, but the prince was not

discouraged; he painted his face, put on common clothes, pulled his cap over his

forehead, and came back.

“Good day Emperor,” he said. “Could you not give me some employment at the court”

“There are so many,” replied the Emperor who applied for places;

said for the president, “I have no vacancy, but I will remember you but wait a moment, it just comes into my mind I require somebody to look after my pigs, for I have a great many.”

Thus, the prince was appointed Imperial swineherd, and as such, he lived in

a wretchedly small room near the pigsty; there, he worked all day long, and when it was

the night he had made a pretty little putt, there were little bells round the rim, and when

the water began to boil in it; the bells began to play the old tune

a jolly old sow once lived in the sty

three little piggies had she,”

but what was more wonderful was that when one put a finger into the steam rising

from the pot, one could at once smell what meals they were preparing on every fire

in the whole town, that was indeed much more remarkable than the Rose.

When the princess with her ladies passed by and heard the tune, she stopped

and looked quite pleased, for she also could play; in fact, it was the only teen she could

play, and she played it with one finger.

“that is the tune I know,” she exclaimed. “He must be of all educated swineherd; go and ask him how much the instrument is?”

One of the ladies had to go and ask, but she put on patents.

“what will you take for your putt?” asked the lady

“I will have ten kisses from the princess,” said the swineherd

“god forbid,” said the lady

“Well, I cannot sell it for less,” replied the swineherd

“What did he say?” said the princess

“I really cannot tell you,” replied the lady

“you can whisper it into my ear; it is very naughty,” said the princess and walked

but when she had gone a little distance, the bells rang again so sweetly

A jolly old sow once lived in a sty

Three little piggies had she” & etc

“ask him,” said the princess, “if he will be satisfied with ten kisses from one of my ladies.”

“No, thank you,” said the swineherd, “ten kisses from the princess or a keep my pots.”

“that is tiresome,” said the princess, “but you must stand before me so that nobody can see it.”

The ladies placed themselves in front of her and sped out their dresses, and she gave

the swineherd ten kisses and received the putt.

That was a pleasure; day and night, the water in the pot was boiling, and there was not

a single fire in the whole town of which they did not know what was preparing it,

the Chamberlain, as well as the shoemakers.

The ladies dance and clap their hands for joy. “We know who believed soup and pancakes; we know who will eat porridge and cutlets; oh, how interesting.”

“very interesting indeed,” said the mistress of the household, “but you must not betray me, for I’m the Emperor’s daughter.”

“Of course not,” they all said

The swineherd, that is to say, the prince, but they did not know otherwise than that

he was a real spy nerd who did not waste a single day without doing something,

he made a rattle which, when turned quickly round, played all the waltzes gallops,

and polkas known since the creation of the world.

“But that is superb,” said the princess passing by. “I have never heard a more beautiful composition; go down and ask him what the instrument costs, but I shall not kiss him again.”

“He will have a hundred kisses from the princess,” said the lady who had gone down
to ask him

“I believe he is mad,” said the princess and walked off, but soon she stopped. “One must encourage art,” she said. “I am The Emperor’s daughter; tell him I will give him ten kisses as I did the other day; the remainder, one of my ladies can give him.”

“But we do not like to kiss him,” said the ladies

“that is nonsense,” said the princess. “If I can kiss him, you can also do it; remember that I give you food and employment.” And the lady had to go down once more.

“A hundred kisses from the princess,” said the swineherd, “or everybody keeps
his own.”

“Place yourselves before me,” said the princess, then they did as they were bidden,

and the princess kissed him.

“I wonder what the crowd near the pigsty means,” said the Emperor, who had just

come out on his balcony; he rubbed his eyes and put his spectacles on the ladies

of the court were up to some mischief. “I think I shall have to go down and see.”

He pulled up his shoes, for they were down at his heels, and he was very quick about it

when he had come down into the courtyard; he walked quite softly, and the ladies were

so busily engaged in counting the kisses that all should be fair that they did not notice

the Emperor, he raised himself on tiptoe “what does this mean?” he said when he saw

that his daughter was kissing the swineherd and then hit their heads with his shoe

just as the swineherd received 1/16 kiss

“go out of my sight,” said the ampèror “He was very angry.”

And both the princess and the swineherd were banished from the Empire; there

she stood and cried; the swineherd scolded her, and the rain came down in torrents.

“Alas, the unfortunate creature I am,” said the princess. “I wish I had accepted the prince; oh, how wretched I am.”

The swineherd went behind a tree, wiped his face, threw off his poor attire,

and stepped forth and his princely garments; he looked so beautiful that the princess

could not help bowing to him.

“I have now learned to despise you,” he said; “you refused an honest Prince; you did not appreciate the rose and the nightingale, but you did not mind kissing a swineherd for his toys; you have no one but yourself to blame,”

and then he returned to his kingdom and left her behind. She could now sing

at her leisure

A jolly old sow once lived in a sty

Three little piggies had she” & etc

The End