"Stay!" said the princess. "Ask him if he will have ten kisses from the ladies of my court."
"No, thank you!" answered the swineherd. "Ten kisses from the princess, or I keep the saucepan myself."
"How tiresome! That must not be either!" said the princess; "but do you all stand before me, that no one may see us."
The court ladies placed themselves in front of her, and spread out their dresses. So the swineherd got ten kisses, and the princess got the saucepan.
That was delightful! The saucepan was kept boiling all the evening and the whole of the following day. They knew perfectly well what was cooking on every hearth in the city, from the chamberlain's to the cobbler's. The court ladies danced and clapped their hands.
"We know who has soup, and who has pancakes for dinner to-day; who has cutlets, and who has eggs. How interesting!"
"Yes, but keep my secret, for I am an emperor's daughter."
The prince—that is, the swineherd, for no one knew that he was other than an ill-favored swineherd—let not a day pass without working at something. At last he constructed a rattle, which, when it was swung round and round, played all the waltzes and jig tunes which have been heard since the creation of the world.
"Ah, that is superbe!" said the princess, when she passed by. "I have never heard prettier compositions. Go in and ask him the price of the instrument. But mind, he shall have no more kisses."
"He will have a hundred kisses from the princess," said the lady who had been to ask.