"Well, then, let the bird fly," returned the princess. And she positively refused to see the prince.
However, he was not to be discouraged. He stained his face brown and black, pulled his cap over his ears, and knocked at the door of the castle.
"Good day to my lord the emperor," said he. "Can I have employment here at the palace?"
"Why, yes," said the emperor. "It just occurs to me that I want some one to take care of the pigs, there are so many of them."
So the prince came to be the imperial swineherd.
He had a miserable little room, close by the pigsty, and here he was obliged to stay; and he sat the whole day long and worked. By evening he had made a pretty little saucepan. Little bells were hung all around it; and when the pot was boiling, the bells tinkled in the most charming manner, and played the old melody,
"Ach, du lieber Augustin,
Alles ist weg, weg, weg."
But what was still more curious, whoever held his finger in the smoke of this saucepan, at once smelled all the dishes that were cooking on every hearth of the city. This, you see, was something quite different from the rose.
Now the princess happened to walk that way with her court ladies, and when she heard the tune she stood quite still and seemed pleased, for she could play "Dearest Augustine." It was the only piece she knew, and she played it with one finger.
"Why, that is the piece that I play on the piano!" said the princess. "That swineherd must certainly have been well educated. Go in and ask him the price of the instrument."