The Dirty Shepherdess

: The Green Fairy Book

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 app e 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.