"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 I keep my pot."
"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 spread out their dresses, and she gave the swineherd ten kisses and received the pot.
That was a pleasure! Day and night the water in the pot was boiling; there was not a single fire in the whole town of which they did not know what was preparing on it, the chamberlain's as well as the shoemaker's. The ladies danced and clapped their hands for joy.
"We know who will eat 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 am 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 swineherd—did not waste a single day without doing something; he made a rattle, which, when turned quickly round, played all the waltzes, galops, and polkas known since the creation of the world.
"But that is superbe," 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."