The ladies-in-waiting danced and clapped their hands.
‘We know who is going to have soup and pancakes; we know who is going to have porridge and sausages—isn’t it interesting?’
‘Yes, very interesting!’ said the first lady-in-waiting.
‘But don’t say anything about it, for I am the Emperor’s daughter.’
‘Oh, no, of course we won’t!’ said everyone.
The Swineherd—that is to say, the Prince (though they did not know he was anything but a true Swineherd)—let no day pass without making something, and one day he made a rattle which, when it was turned round, played all the waltzes, galops, and polkas which had ever been known since the world began.
‘But that is superbe!’ said the Princess as she passed by. ‘I have never heard a more beautiful composition. Listen! Go down and ask him what this instrument costs; but I won’t kiss him again.’
‘He wants a hundred kisses from the Princess,’ said the lady-in-waiting who had gone down to ask him.
‘I believe he is mad!’ said the Princess, and then she went on; but she had only gone a few steps when she stopped.
‘One ought to encourage art,’ she said. ‘I am the Emperor’s daughter! Tell him he shall have, as before, ten kisses; the rest he can take from my ladies-in-waiting.’