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Once upon
a time...
Once upon a time there lived a King who had two daughters,
and he loved them with all his heart. When they grew up, he was
suddenly seized with a wish to know if they, on their part, truly
loved him, and he made up his mind that he would give his kingdom to
whichever best proved her devotion.
So he called the elder Princess and said to her, 'How much do you
love me?'
'As the apple of my eye!' answered she.
'Ah!' exclaimed the King, kissing her tenderly as he spoke, 'you are
indeed a good daughter.'
Then he sent for the younger, and asked her how much she loved him.
'I look upon you, my father,' she answered, 'as I look upon salt in
my food.'
But the King did not like her words, and ordered her to quit the
court, and never again to appear before him. The poor Princess went
sadly up to her room and began to cry, but when she was reminded of
her father's commands, she dried her eyes, and made a bundle of her
jewels and her best dresses and hurriedly left the castle where she
was born.
She walked straight along the road in front of her, without knowing
very well where she was going or what was to become of her, for she
had never been shown how to work, and all she had learnt consisted
of a few household rules, and receipts of dishes which her mother
had taught her long ago. And as she was afraid that no housewife
would want to engage a girl with such a pretty face, she determined
to make herself as ugly as she could.
She therefore took off the dress that she was wearing and put on
some horrible old rags belonging to a beggar, all torn and covered
with mud. After that she smeared mud all over her hands and face,
and shook her hair into a great tangle. Having thus changed her
appearance, she went about offering herself as a goose-girl or
shepherdess. But the farmers' wives would have nothing to say to
such a dirty maiden, and sent her away with a morsel of bread for
charity's sake.
After walking for a great many days without being able to find any
work, she came to a large farm where they were in want of a
shepherdess, and engaged her gladly.
One day when she was keeping her sheep in a lonely tract of land,
she suddenly felt a wish to dress herself in her robes of splendour.
She washed herself carefully in the stream, and as she always
carried her bundle with her, it was easy to shake off her rags, and
transform herself in a few moments into a great lady.
The King's son, who had lost his way out hunting, perceived this
lovely damsel a long way off, and wished to look at her closer. But
as soon as the girl saw what he was at, she fled into the wood as
swiftly as a bird. The Prince ran after her, but as he was running
he caught his foot in the root of a tree and fell, and when he got
up again, she was nowhere to be seen.
When she was quite safe, she put on her rags again, and smeared over
her face and hands. However the young Prince, who was both hot and
thirsty, found his way to the farm, to ask for a drink of cider, and
he inquired the name of the beautiful lady that kept the sheep. At
this everyone began to laugh, for they said that the shepherdess was
one of the ugliest and dirtiest creatures under the sun.
The Prince thought some witchcraft must be at work, and he hastened
away before the return of the shepherdess, who became that evening
the butt of everybody's jests.
But the King's son thought often of the lovely maiden whom he had
only seen for a moment, though she seemed to him much more
fascinating than any lady of the Court. At last he dreamed of
nothing else, and grew thinner day by day till his parents inquired
what was the matter, promising to do all they could to make him as
happy as he once was. He dared not tell them the truth, lest they
should laugh at him, so he only said that he should like some bread
baked by the kitchen girl in the distant farm.
Although the wish appeared rather odd, they hastened to fulfil it,
and the farmer was told the request of the King's son. The maiden
showed no surprise at receiving such an order, but merely asked for
some flour, salt, and water, and also that she might be left alone
in a little room adjoining the oven, where the kneading- trough
stood. Before beginning her work she washed herself carefully, and
even put on her rings; but, while she was baking, one of her rings
slid into the dough. When she had finished she dirtied herself
again, and let the lumps of the dough stick to her fingers, so that
she became as ugly as before.
The loaf, which was a very little one, was brought to the King's
son, who ate it with pleasure. But in cutting it he found the ring
of the Princess, and declared to his parents that he would marry the
girl whom that ring fitted.
So the King made a proclamation through his whole kingdom and ladies
came from afar to lay claim to the honour. But the ring was so tiny
that even those who had the smallest hands could only get it on
their little fingers. In a short time all the maidens of the
kingdom, including the peasant girls, had tried on the ring, and the
King was just about to announce that their efforts had been in vain,
when the Prince observed that he had not yet seen the shepherdess.
They sent to fetch her, and she arrived covered with rags, but with
her hands cleaner than usual, so that she could easily slip on the
ring. The King's son declared that he would fulfil his promise, and
when his parents mildly remarked that the girl was only a keeper of
sheep, and a very ugly one too, the maiden boldly said that she was
born a princess, and that, if they would only give her some water
and leave her alone in a room for a few minutes, she would show that
she could look as well as anyone in fine clothes.
They did what she asked, and when she entered in a magnificent
dress, she looked so beautiful that all saw she must be a princess
in disguise. The King's son recognized the charming damsel of whom
he had once caught a glimpse, and, flinging himself at her feet,
asked if she would marry him. The Princess then told her story, and
said that it would be necessary to send an ambassador to her father
to ask his consent and to invite him to the wedding.
The Princess's father, who had never ceased to repent his harshness
towards his daughter, had sought her through the land, but as no one
could tell him anything of her, he supposed her dead. Therefore it
was with great joy he heard that she was living and that a king's
son asked her in marriage, and he quitted his kingdom with his elder
daughter so as to be present at the ceremony.
By the orders of the bride, they only served her father at the
wedding breakfast bread without salt, and meat without seasoning.
Seeing him make faces, and eat very little, his daughter, who sat
beside him, inquired if his dinner was not to his taste.
'No,' he replied, 'the dishes are carefully cooked and sent up, but
they are all so dreadfully tasteless.'
'Did not I tell you, my father, that salt was the best thing in
life? And yet, when I compared you to salt, to show how much I loved
you, you thought slightingly of me and you chased me from your
presence.'
The King embraced his daughter, and allowed that he had been wrong
to misinterpret her words. Then, for the rest of the wedding feast
they gave him bread made with salt, and dishes with seasoning, and
he said they were the very best he had ever eaten.
The Dirty Shepherdess
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
