FAIRY TALES (text) - 96. THE SHEPHERD OF THE PIGS

THE SHEPHERD OF THE PIGS

Once upon a time there was a prince, he was not rich even though he had his kingdom. The kingdom was small but it was enough for him to have a wife, and he wanted to get married. To propose to a king’s daughter needed courage, but the prince decided to go and propose to the only daughter of the king. The princess didn’t accept. Over the tomb of his father he had a rose that blossomed once in five years and gave only a flower. He had a nightingale that sang so beautifully that it mesmerized everyone. He put them inside two silver boxes and sent them to the princess, which was staying at the court with the servants and the kings. When she saw the boxes, she clapped her hands with happiness. She expected to find a beautiful kitten but when she opened the box, she saw a fresh rose with a good smell. The princess liked it a lot but when she saw it better, she said:

– This is not artificial! This is natural!

So it seemed disgusting to her, but the king told her to open the other box. When the box was open, the nightingale came out and began to sing, and everyone was staying there and listened to the song mesmerized. After it stopped singing, the princess told that it wasn’t real, but the people who brought it were trying to convince her that the nightingale was real. Then the princess told them to release the nightingale so that they could see it fly. They left the bird and it flew away from the palace, so the princess didn’t like any of the gifts. But the prince was not that kind of person who give up so easily.

He blackened his face, wore old clothes, put a hat on his head and went to knock at the king’s gate to ask for a job, and the king said:

– You have no idea how many people come here and ask me for that, but to tell the truth, I need a man to herd the pigs. We have got too many pigs.

So, the prince became the pigs’ shepherd. They gave him a room in poor conditions nearby the pigs’ hut. 

He passed all the day working, and when the night came he made a beautiful pot. Then he set it on fire and when the water began to boil, he sang a song saying:

– Oh my beautiful Augustine, all my dreams are gone now! 

But the pot had one other peculiarity. If you put your hand at its steam, you could feel the taste of every dish that they were doing at the houses of the kingdom. No much time passed and the princess went out walking with her maids. When she heard the song, she was amazed because it was the only song she could play. She told her maid to go and ask the shepherd how much money he wanted for the pot and when she went, the boy told her:

– I want ten kisses from the princess.

The maid told him it was impossible, but the boy said that if he didn’t get the kisses, he wouldn’t give his pot away. The maid went to the princess and it was embarrassing for her to tell the princes what the boy had said, but princess told her to tell her in the ear and the maid said everything.

– How rude he is! –princess said and decided to leave. Just as she did the first step, the song she loved so much started again.

– Go and ask him if he accepts the kisses from the young ladies of the court, – said the princess to the girls.

But the boy said he wanted the kisses from the princess, otherwise he wouldn’t give his pot away.

How boring he is! – said the princess. – Well, then you ladies will stand in front of me so nobody sees me.

And the young ladies did what she told them, they went in front of her and after that the shepherd took the kisses he had asked for, while the princess took the pot.

They were so happy, that night the pot was on fire all night long!

Now there was no kitchen in the city where they didn’t know what was being cooked, from the kitchen of the mayor up to the shoemaker’s house. The young ladies clapped their hands and danced with happiness.

– We know who is making the soup either the pie right now! –girls said.

– Well, well but be careful! Don’t tell that to anyone because I am the daughter of the king!

– Don’t you worry! –the misses said.

The pigs’ shepherd invented something new every day. One day he made an instrument that played all the waltzes and the polkas everyone had heard.

This is so wonderful, – the princess said when she was passing by. – I have never heard such a beautiful sound. Go and ask him once what he wants for that instrument. But say no to the kisses! 

He wants a hundred kisses from the princess, – said the maid that had asked him.

– That man must be insane, – said the princess and turned to leave. Without taking the first step, she heard the beautiful melody that the instrument was playing and said: – Art should be encouraged, because in the end I am the king’s daughter. Go and tell him I will give ten kisses like yesterday, while you will give him the other kisses. At first the maids didn’t accept, but she said that if she was going to kiss him and she was the princess, even they had to do the same thing. But the shepherd didn’t change his mind and at last the princess gave up and was ready to give him a hundred kisses. 

– What the hell are they doing at the stall? –king said looking from the balcony.

He rubbed his eyes and put his glasses on to look better. He wore his clothes and went downstairs quietly. The young ladies were so busy counting the kisses that they couldn’t see the king coming secretly.

What is going on right here?! –king said when he saw them kissing. He got so mad that he threw both of them out of the kingdom, the shepherd and the princess. The princess was always crying and she regretted that she didn’t marry the handsome prince who proposed her. The shepherd hid behind a tree, he cleaned himself up, wore his clothes like a prince and went to the girl.

Now I can only despise you, – the prince said. – You didn’t want to marry an honest prince, you didn’t like the rose and the nightingale. But you accepted to kiss a pigs’ shepherd to get an instrument. You had what you wanted. And after he spoke those words, he went to his kingdom and closed the gate. While she would live outside and sing the song all the time:

– Oh my beautiful Augustine, all my dreams are gone now!