yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 36 The Swineherd

Once upon a time there was a prince who had only a small kingdom.Although the kingdom is not very rich, it is enough for him to marry the bride he wants.

One day he asked the emperor's daughter recklessly, "Will you marry me?" The reason why he dared to ask the princess like this was because he was already well-known at that time.While hundreds of princesses would happily say "I do," will this princess do the same?

Well, we'll know the answer soon.

On the old king's tomb, there grew a very beautiful rose.It blooms only once every five years, and produces only one rose.Oh, this is the rose!When you lean over, the fragrant fragrance will immediately make you forget all your worries and troubles.The prince also has a nightingale that can sing, as if all the beautiful tunes in the world come from its voice.He intended to present the rose and the nightingale to the princess, so he had them presented to her in silver boxes, respectively.

The emperor had the gifts brought into the hall.The princess was there playing "Duke Riding" with her maids, and clapped her hands with joy when she saw the two silver boxes.

"There must be a cute kitten inside!" the princess guessed.After opening the box, she saw a blooming rose.

"What a beautiful rose!" exclaimed the maids nearby. "Not only is it indescribably beautiful," the emperor also sighed, "it's also very charming."

But when the princess smelled the rose, she cried, "Ah! Father! It is a fresh rose, not man-made."

"Ah! It's really a living rose!" The maids next to her also responded one after another.

"Don't be angry, my princess, let's see what's in the other box?" said the emperor.So they found Nightingale in another box.Its singing is so sweet that no one wants to interrupt it with a word.

"How beautiful! How charming!" the maids chattered in French, their voices getting louder and louder.

"This bird reminds me of Her Majesty's music box." An old official said with emotion, "The same melody, the same appeal."

"You're right!" the emperor was crying like a child.

"I wish it was a music box. But isn't it a real nightingale?" asked the princess.

"Yes, it is a real nightingale," replied the messenger sent by the prince.

"Then let's let him go," suggested the Princess, who would not have the Prince come to see her anyway.

The prince was not discouraged by this.In order not to be recognized by others, he painted his face black and covered it with a hat.He came to the palace, knocked on the door and said, "My lord, can I be a servant in your castle?"

"Okay, but there have been a lot of people asking to be servants. I don't know if there are any more for you. But I will think of you. Wait a minute, I just remembered that I need a swineherd. My pigs don't Less."

So the prince became the emperor's swineherd.He built a simple hut next to the dirty pigsty to live in.He was constantly busy throughout the day, and only at night was he free to make a cute little kettle.There is a circle of small bells dotted around the pot.Whenever the water boils, the bells jingle, as if playing an ancient tune:

Where is dear Augustus?
well!He's not here, not here!

The most wonderful thing is that if someone puts his hand in the steam from the kettle, he will immediately smell the food cooking on all the fires in the castle.Compared with the rose, this jug is unusual.

It happened that the princess was leading the maids through the pigsty.As soon as she heard this piece, she stopped and looked towards the swineherd, for she also played the piece "Where is dear Augustus?"

It was the only piece she knew, and she could play it with only one finger.

"Listen! It's the same piece I'm playing," she said happily. "He must be an accomplished swineherd! Listen, go and ask how he can give me his instrument."

So a maid came into the pigsty—but she put on her wooden shoes first—and asked, "What do you want to sell us your jug?"

"If the Princess will kiss me ten times, she will have the jug," replied the swineherd.

"Bold!" the maid scolded angrily.

"Yes, and unless the Princess does, she won't have it," insisted the swineherd.

"Okay? What did he say?" The princess couldn't wait.

"I hate to tell you, Princess," replied the maid.

"Okay, tell me in a low voice."

"He is so unreasonable!" The princess walked away angrily.But not far away, the melodious bell rang again:

Where is dear Augustus?
well!He's not here, not here!

"Listen!" commanded the princess, "go and ask him if he will have the maid kiss him for me?"

"Forget it, thank you for your kindness," replied the swineherd. "Either the princess kisses me ten times, or I keep the jug."

"This is really a troublesome thing." The princess was obviously reluctant. "You have to make sure you stand in front of me and don't let others see it."

So the maids stood in front of the princess one after another, and they opened their clothes to cover the princess behind.Then the princess kissed him ten times before she got the jug.

Look how happy the princess is!Whether it is night or day, she has to use a kettle to boil water.In this way, she has enjoyed the taste of food on the stove in almost every household in the castle, from the minister to the shoemaker.

The maids clapped and danced beside them.

"We get to know who likes broth and scones, and who's going to have porridge and sausages. Isn't that fun?"

"Of course it's very interesting!" replied the first maid.

"You can't mention this to others. You must know that I am the emperor's daughter."

"Oh! Princess! Of course we wouldn't do that!" everyone answered in unison.

Where is the swineherd?That is, the prince (but everyone agrees that he is the real swineherd) wasted no time thinking about what to do.One day he made a thing that could make a sound, and as long as it was turned, it could play all kinds of dance music in the world: "Waltz", "Quick Dance" and "Polka".

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed the princess when she passed by. "I never heard such beautiful dance music! Listen, now go and ask him how he can give me that thing."

"He asked the princess to kiss him a hundred times," replied the maid who went to the pigsty to ask.

"I think he must be crazy!" said the princess angrily.So she planned to leave there, but she stopped after walking a few steps.

"One has to be able to make sacrifices for art," she said. "I'm a princess! Go and tell him that I can only kiss him ten times like last time, and the rest will be replaced by the maid."

"But we don't want to kiss him at all," complained the maids.

"That's so unreasonable!" The princess was upset. "Since I can kiss him, why can't you? And I don't want you to forget who is feeding and lodging you."

The maids heard this, so they had to go to the pigsty to find the swineherd.

"Either she kisses me a hundred times, or nobody cares." He insisted on his request.

"You all stand in front of me," she ordered.So all the maids stood in front of the princess.The swineherd let the princess kiss him.

"I don't know what kind of mess those pigpens will be like?" The emperor stood on the balcony and thought to himself.Suddenly he noticed something, rubbed his eyes, and put on his glasses. "What kind of game are those maids playing? I have to go and see."

So the Emperor took off his shoe—he had stepped on it into a slipper, and of course he was in a hurry!
When the emperor came to the garden, he gradually slowed down.But the maids were busy counting and watching the excitement, they didn't even notice that behind him, the emperor was looking in on tiptoe.

"What are you doing?" The emperor couldn't help but angrily reprimanded after seeing clearly.He took off a slipper and threw it at them, when the swineherd had just been kissed No. 80 six times.

"Get out of here!" The emperor was very angry.So the princess and the swineherd were all driven out of the palace.

The princess stood still and wept, and the swineherd kept scolding her.The rain began to pour down.

"Oh, what a wretched man I am!" sobbed the princess. "If only I had married that handsome prince. How unfortunate I am!"

The swineherd quickly hid behind the tree, washed off the black ashes on his face, and threw away his old clothes.He came out again from behind the tree in his rich gown, and looked so handsome that the princess had to be courteous.

"I now know how much I despised you!" he said. "You are not worthy of a noble prince at all. You don't understand the meaning of roses and nightingales at all. For a toy, you are even willing to kiss a swineherd. This is what will happen to you." After finishing speaking, the prince entered his own kingdom and put She shut the door.The princess had to sing sadly outside:
Where is dear Augustus?
well!He's not here, not here!

(End of this chapter)